Angelica
by Saeshmea
Summary: After Albus' death Minerva and Severus find themselves oblitgated to get married in order to protect the baby she's expecting. After getting to know each other, love grows between them as the last battle approuches... Which will be their fate?
1. 1 Death and live

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: I'm sorry for the mistakes you'll surely find on the story, but my english is not really well... anyway, I hope you enjoy it!!_

_Chapter one: _**Death and live **

Minerva McGonagall crossed the crowd of students and teachers under the castle tower trying to find the reason of their expectation, the whispers advice her about what she should expect, but she wasn't going to believe it until she'd see it… and suddenly she saw it… at the end of the crowd, lying on the floor there was the body of Albus Dumbledore… She could feel how her legs lose their strength, how her heart wasn't able to breath enough air, how her eyes filled with cold tears that she couldn't stop… He was dead… Dead… .. .

Firmly, she raised her wand and charmed a white light pointing the sky that had became dark… a while later everybody was doing the same as her and the shadow above their heads disappeared.

The silence made that situation uncomfortable… she couldn't stand anymore the gazes and whispers around her and stepped back to run away from the crowd. At the castle's doors a shadow seemed to be waiting her.

"Don't dare to say a word, Severus" said her.

"Minerva I… I'm sorry…" said Severus Snape following her into the hall "You know I didn't…"

From the middle of the stairs Minerva turned round and pointed with her wand to Severus, a green light flow from it and touched him.

"Minerva don't be childish!!!" shouted him raising from the floor "I had to do it! He ordered me to do it!!"

"NO!!! Albus never gave orders, Severus, he just asked you to do it… and you agreed…"

"He was dying! What happened to his hand was…"

"I knew it was a curse… I knew what was gonna happen instead he didn't tell me… but I hoped him to stay with me just some more time… just until I'd been able to tell him…" her sobs didn't let her speak "I'm pregnant!" shouted suddenly.

"What?!" exclaimed him, and she took advantage of his surprise to run stairs up.

* * *

Severus was sat on his new desk at the Headmaster's office when a voice cut the silence he'd been being involved for the last hours.

"How is she?"

"Bad…" answered him with his look lost on the window from which he could see the Gryffindor tower "She's destroyed… but I'm sure you didn't expect to listen she was fine…" then Severus turned round and faced Albus Dumbledore's picture on the wall.

"She'll recover… both of us knew it could happen one day… Being on the order any of us could never come back from a mission… that's why we never began a family…"

"There's something you should know, Professor…" told Severus "… but it would be better if it's her who tells you…"

"What is it?"

"She's… Minerva is… expecting a baby…"

"WHAT!?!?" it seemed that all the paintings on the wall trembled as Dumbledore shouted "It can't be possible… Are you sure of it? Who… who tells you?"

"She… Minerva shouted it to me when I apologized for what you did me to do…" after a while of silence, he continued… "She was right… you never ordered it to me… I could have rejected your plan… now you would be alive and would begin a family with her…"

"It can't be possible… we've always been too careful with this… we decided together we would never let an error like this to happen to us…"

"This is not a mistake, Professor… it's a baby!! A life growing inside her from your own blood!!!"

"But it changes everything! If Voldemort finds out about a son of mine he will come and… We have to do something… before he discovers everything… Minerva has to disappear…"

"You know he will found her anywhere she'll be hidden… and she would never be saved…"

"Then… the baby wouldn't be born…" said suddenly the old Headmaster's voice.

"Has death turned you into craziness!? Minerva McGonagall's dream has always been to have her own family with the man she loves… and you wants to take it out from her hands?"

"I want to protect her from who-you-know hands… Maybe…"

"What?"

"That's it! The only way is to make him think the baby's father is someone else!"

"That sound better… anyway, just a few people knew about you and Minerva, and they are all friends from the Order… But I can't imagine who could the fake father be…"

"It has to be someone from Voldemort confidence circle, then he would never suspicious anything…"

"Do you want Minerva to seduce a Death Eater?"

"You're not as clever as you seem… are you?"

"Oh, no! I can't do it! She's… she and I… NEVER!"

"Severus, it's the only way! You have to protect her and my son! If Voldemort finds out I left a heir he won't matter to kill him… and I don't wont to imagine what would happen to my kitten after he knows he's been my lover…"

"Alright… alright… I'll take it as a way to pay for my sins… but it will have to be you who tells her all this…" Severus stared the picture and Dumbledore hide his face in a corner of it "I'm not gonna tell Minerva mad plan… she nearly kills me after see your body on the ground… imagine what she will do if it's me who… NO! Go to her room immediately and talk with your dear cat, Professor!"

* * *

Minerva was crying on the sheet of her bed when Albus appeared on a little picture of him she has on her desk. The room was untidy, she seemed to have left her rage go out throwing every object to the floor… there were books, crystals from a mirror, and a lot of feathers from the pillows on the floor.

"Minnie?" asked him with a low and prudent voice "Minnie are you awake?"

Suddenly she moved a little, grasped the pillow under her head and threw it against the picture who was talking… if felt to the floor but the noise it made was silence by her shouts.

"I knew you wouldn't be too late on make an appearance! But do you want to know something, Albus Dumbledore!? I DON'T WANNA TALK WITH YOU!!!" She walked to the picture that has felt to the floor "I don't care if you've abandoned me… I don't care if you've dead…" she took the picture with her both hands and stared that blue eyes looking at her "I hate you… have you listen to me? I HATE YOU, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!!!" suddenly Albus felt his painting flying throw the room and crushing against the wardrobe.

"Kitten, I understand you're angry… and upset… and mad… but… you knew it was gonna happen some day… I advised you the risks of loving me… but…"

"But I was madly in love with you… I know… and that was a mistake… a BIG mistake!! I felt in love with a silly old wizard too much selfish to notice my feelings… to imagine how much I would miss him after he'd gone…" the picture flew again throw the room and this time felt on the bed.

"I knew how much you loved me, Minnie… and those feelings of you were what most scared me… I didn't want you to suffer… but the magic world future was on my hands…"

"That's what most annoy me from you, Albus… why the hell everything has to be on your hands, why can't you just leave something for the rest of people and take some time for you…?"

"Minerva I…"

"Don't talk! I know the answer of every question… I've stood these enough time to know them…" she took the picture again "The problem's I've never get used to this…" then she opened the window.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Albus.

"If I want to forget you I can't have your annoying voice apologizing every day for what's happened…"

"Minerva… don't quit me at this way, please… I know it… I know you're expecting!"

"Oh… I see… killing you has get Severus closer to you…"

"He haven't killed me… he was just obeying my will… Would you have preferred the young Malfoy to become a killer?"

"I would prefer you to stay with me and our son…"

"Minerva, I was dying… I would have death in a few months, anyway…"

"I don't matter… I would have been able to feel your hands on my belly every night, and your lips on mine at least one more time…" he noticed the tears on her eyes and her voice beginning to tremble because of her sobs "… now my son will grow without a father because we've never been able to tell anybody about our love…"

"Minerva, about this…" he was gonna tell her, but he hesitated, she looked at him with wet and red eyes and he couldn't say it to her at that moment "… I'm sorry…" was the only he managed to say.

* * *

"You haven't told her!"

"I couldn't, Severus… she's too sad… and desperate… and scared… She's carrying a baby from a death man nobody knows she's been having a relationship and she feels lonely… knowing she will have to manage everything alone… I couldn't… I couldn't add a fake marriage to all these…"

"Then we'll have to think on another way…" said Severus smiling.

"No… you'll meet her tonight and tell her about the plan…"

"NO! I told you it would be you who… alright… but you'll have to be there!"

TO BE CONTINUED… .. .


	2. 2 The proposal

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: I apologize for my bad English, but really thanks for your encouraging and full of patient reviews!!! _

Chapter two: **The proposal**

Severus climbed up the clock tower of the castle after dinner with the few people who still at the castle after the day before the incident.

"Dumbledore said you would be here…"

Suddenly Minerva frightened and lost her balance. Severus hold her but she released immediately from his hands.

"What has he asked you to do this time, Severus?"

"Nothing…" lied him very bad "He's just wondering how you are…"

"Can't he ask it to me himself…"

"Well… you've left his painting into a drawer…" said him.

"You've been at my room!" exclaimed her upset.

"I was looking for you!"

"And was it needed to go inside without my permission?"

"I was worried about you… you haven't left the room since…"

"Maybe 'cause I needed some time to get used to the fact I'm expecting a baby of a death man!!" she broke down again, as she'd did the afternoon before, and began to cry desperately "Everybody will speculate about my pregnancy and I'll be alone without know how to grow him…" Severus stepped towards her and embraced her with hesitating movements, as if he wasn't sure of how to do a hug. Trembling, Minerva held him close to her, really needing some warmth.

When she'd calmed they moved apart and Minerva found herself on the Headmaster's office.

"How?"

"Minerva… about the baby…" said him ignoring her question "You'll not be alone…"

"What?"

"Albus is sure that if He Who Must Not Be Named finds out it's his son he will come to hurt you both…" told him helping her to sit down on a chair.

"He needn't know…" said her smiling.

"It's not as easy, Minerva… instead you and Albus have always kept your relationship in secret, you know everybody has suspected about you two… The Darkness Lord is not stupid, if he finds out you're pregnant his first thought will be it's Dumbledore's and…"

"…and you and the baby will be at Voldemort and the Death Eaters will… and Severus won't be able to help then…" continued Albus' voice from the painting on the wall behind the desk.

"But we'll be saved in the school…" said her gazing the picture with some fear on his look.

"Not now that it belongs to the Ministry… The Dark Lord has a lot of wizards there…" said Severus.

"So… what do you two want me to do?" asked her with a sarcastic obeying tone "Run away? Hide somewhere?"

"Say Severus is the father of the baby…" said Albus calmly.

"Definitely you've become crazy, Albus Dumbledore!" exclaimed her standing from the couch "I'm not gonna… and anyway nobody will believe…" she was as excited that couldn't end any sentence "No one will believe I've had a son with… him" and she gazed Severus.

"They will if you're married" told Albus.

"WHAT!!!?" her shout awake all the paintings of the wall "Do you agree with this?" asked her to Severus.

"I… it… it's the only way…"

"You agree!!" she'd already grasped a heavy book from the desk and suddenly threw it against Severus, who dodged it, so it crashed against the painting.

"She's crazy!" exclaimed Severus.

"No… she always do it when she's upset…" told Albus, who suddenly noticed she was leaving the room "Stop her!"

Severus turned round and pointed the door with his wand, but Minerva wasn't there… suddenly a cat jumped to the window and tried to leave, but Snape was faster and closed it.

"Minerva McGonagall you can't stay too much time with your animagus form being pregnant instead you want to have a cat instead of a wizard…" said Albus from his picture with a severer tone. But she ignored him and run under the couch "Severus, take her, please!"

Severus followed her and held the cat hard with one hand while pointed it with the wand. A while later he was on the floor and Minerva was on him.

"I'm not gonna marry him… everybody has become mad in here?! So think another plan, Albus, 'cause I prefer to be tortured by the Death Eaters…" said her raising from the top of Severus "…than be know as Mrs. Snape…"

"What's wrong on…!?" replied Severus, but Minerva had already left the room "She's too stubborn, Professor… we'll have to think another…"

"There's not another plan, Severus…" Albus also left his painting and Snape stayed alone.

* * *

At the other side of the castle Minerva was closing her room's door when she listened some noise coming from her desk…

"Haven't I been clear enough?" asked her opening the drawer where she'd left Albus picture.

"Minerva, please… I'm just trying to protect you and our baby… do you really want to embrace his body after Voldemort had killed him?"

"NO! Don't be like this with me, Albus! It's you who've abandoned me… it's you who've left me alone with a son!"

"I'M SORRY!! Is this what you want to listen?" shouted him from the painting, and she began to cry again "Minerva… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry because I would love to share a family with you… get marry, grew this baby together… but…"

"…but now you're asking me to do it with Severus…!" she sat down on the chair, and dried her tears while put the picture on the desk.

"Just try to understand it, Minerva… I don't want you to be hurt…"

"Don't you matter if your son says dad to another man? Don't you matter if everybody sees me as a killer's wife?"

"I don't if I know you both are saved at this way…"

"What about Severus? Hasn't him any matter to reject your crazy plan?"

"His mission is to make sure Hogwarts, and specially you, are saved from the darkness…"

"So you found a good servant on him…"

"Minerva, please…" She took the picture and left it into the drawer again "…don't be childish… this is serious…" then she closed it and Albus voice was silenced.

* * *

The next morning Minerva finally went downstairs to share the breakfast with the rest of the school staff. The four big tables of the middle of the dinning room were empty, so she imagined all the students had already left. An uncomfortable silence made her steps sound very loud, but what most surprises Minerva was that all the teachers were sat on one sight of the table at the bottom of the dinning room, and Severus was alone at the other side, eating a toast with the most normality he could show.

Rolanda Hooch smiled to her friend when she noticed her entrance, and raised her arm asking her to sit between her and Mrs. Pomfrey, but the steps of Minerva passed away their side of the table and she sat next to Severus.

"Good morning" said her taking a toast from a plate full of bread in front of them both.

"You needn't do this… I knew what was gonna happen after what I did…" whispered Severus.

"They'll have to get use to see us together if I have to marry you…" answered her not looking at him.

"I'm happy to see you better and out of your room, today…" said him smiling and knowing it would be best to not ask what have made her change her mind.

"Thanks, Severus, but your smile will disappear soon" he didn't understand why she was saying that, but he looked how she stood with a mischievously smile on her face and asked the attention of their colleagues "Ladies and gentlemen, please… teachers and staff of Hogwarts… our Headmaster, Professor Snape, and me, have something to announce…" she helped him to stand and he finally understood why she was so happy "If you want to be my husband I will make you live a hell…" whispered her.

"What is it Mina?" asked Rolanda enthusiastically.

"Are you gonna take his place?" asked Flitwick.

"No, Filius, I haven't any intention to be the Headmistress of the school… just listen to Severus…" and she smiled again gazing him.

"I… We…" he'd became quite nervous.

"Is anything wrong, dear…" he hated that game she wanted to play.

"We don't wanna listen him, Min, tell it yourself!" exclaimed Mrs. Pince, the librarian.

"Alright… Friends, tonight Severus was a little more courageous than now and…" she raised her hand and showed everybody a ring with a shinning green emerald on it "We're gonna marry these holidays!"

"WHAT!?" that was the only exclamation she was able to understood among all the voices, curses and swears.

TO BE CONTINUED… .. .


	3. 3 Believing the lie

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: I love ALL your comments!!! Really thanks for read this fic instead my bad English… KISSES!!! _

Chapter three: **Believing the lie**

"Minerva… when I said you the result of the test I didn't ask about the father 'cause I supposed…" said Mrs. Pomfrey closing the door of the private room of the nursery.

"You supposed wrong, Poppy…" interrupted Minerva trying to ignore her friend's look.

"Alright… I can do as if I believed this story about you and Severus having the family you've always dreamt with Albus, but I will need the truth if anything happens ever to the baby…" told Mrs. Pomfrey.

"This is the truth, Poppy… I had an affair with Severus, I got pregnant and we're going to marry…"

"If your intention is everybody to believe you, you should learnt to lie better, dear…"

"I don't want to lie you… but this is what I'm supposed to tell…" said Minerva with tears beginning to shine on her eyes "I could be putting you on danger if I…"

"It's fine, honey… this is what I needed to listen… Your secret will be saved with me…" she put a hand on Minerva's belly and then said "Now let's see how is our little Dumble-" a laud knock on the door interrupted her "What's this?"

"Poppy, open! It's Rolanda and Sybill! And we know SHE is in here!" shouted the voice of Rolanda Hooch, and right when Poppy let them go in, she run towards Minerva and shook her grabbing her shoulders "HAVE YOU BECOME CRAZY!!!?"

"Rolanda, please, stop it!" exclaimed professor Trelawny trying to separate her friends.

"I supposed Albus death would take you into craziness… BUT SEVERUS!!!" shouted Rolanda not releasing her friend's shoulders.

"Rolanda Hoock, please… make a step back or I'll have to charm you out of this room!" shouted Pomfrey.

Rolanda immediately obeyed the nurse and stepped back.

"What the hell was on your mind when you accepted this crazy proposition?!" Minerva opened her mouth to reply, but Rolanda stopped her "No… wait! What the hell was on Severus mind when he ask that to you?!!! You two spent all the time arguing!!! Don't you notice this is an enormous madness?!!"

"I'm sure she has an answer for all these, Rolanda… but stop shouting, please…" said Trelawny calmly.

"Ro, I…" said Minerva with a low voice making an effort to not cry "I, I…" her voice trembled and she couldn't manage to end a word.

"YOU WHAT?!" shouted shaking her again.

"Rolanda!" exclaimed Sybill.

"I want answers!"

"SHE'S PREGNANT, ROLANDA!" exclaimed Poppy. And Hoock released her friend immediately "Is it enough answer for you?"

"Pregnant? From Severus? How?!" asked Trelawny immediately.

"It was a mistake when it happened… but we both are adults and we want to do the things at the right way…"

"The right way is to marry the man who's thrown the love of your life throw the clock tower of the school?" said Rolanda harshly.

"The right way is to think on my baby's wellbeing!!!" suddenly shouted Minerva while a lot of tears filled her eyes one more time and her hands embraced her belly.

"…a baby…" said Trelawny as if she hadn't listen it before "You're gonna have a baby… you're gonna be a mother!" a smile appear on her face while she hugged her friend "Oh, Minnie, you're gonna be a mummy!!" said as if she was talking to a kid.

"Don't talk to me like this…" said Minerva gazing her.

"Ok… so… is it a little cat or a little death eater?"

"Alright, Rolanda… that was enough! Wait outside!" advised Poppy.

"No, no… please… I'll shut up, I promise!"

"Get out of my nursery!!!"

* * *

Nearly an hour later Mrs. Pomfrey ended her exam and Minerva left the room with Sybill. Rolanda still outside waiting for her.

"Didn't you said enough inthere?"

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't say many of the things I said, but… I really can't understand…" said Hooch following her friends by the corridor "I mean… I thought you'd always loved Albus…"

"I get tired to wait…"

"But you never make this kind of… mistakes, honey…"

"What do you…?" then she noticed Rolanda's look to her belly "This is not-!" then she hesitated… it wasn't a mistake, but she'd told Rolanda that it was, so she couldn't argue that "I don't know what happened to me…" said, and then began to walk faster.

"Min, wait!" said Sybill standing next to Hooch.

But Minerva ignored them both… She hated lying to her best friends, and more over arguing with Rolanda like that knowing her friend was right, but she'd understood that if Albus was as worried as to ask her to marry another man, she must be in really danger, and she didn't want nothing to happen to her baby or anyone else just because she was too stubborn to play as Mrs. Snape. Suddenly she noticed she'd already reached her room's door…

"WHAT THE HELL…?!!" some of the pictures of the Griffindor's living room stared to her… she stayed looking around her room… it was totally empty… no furnitures, no books, no clothes… "Where are my things?"

"At our room, dear…" she turned round to Severus voice.

"WHAT?!"

"I can play your game, too… and trust me, I can be really annoying…"

"Where have you taken my things?" asked Minerva trying to calm herself.

"I asked to take them to the headmaster's rooms… now that you've told everybody that we're going to marry, they'll expect us to at least share a room… don't you think?"

Minerva left the room without say a word but staring at Severus, who couldn't take out the smile on his face seeing he'd surprised her as much as she'd done during the breakfast with him.

* * *

Minerva closed the door of the Headmaster's private rooms calmly and stepped in, as she had done some months ago…

"_Minerva!" exclaimed Albus when she'd closed the door carefuly "What are you doing here? It's five o'clock in the morning…!"_

"_You promised you would immediately come to my room when you'd came back…" advised her trying to control her tone of voice to not sound too loud._

"_I supposed you would be sleeping and I didn't want to awake you…" said him steping forwards her slowly._

"_SLEEPING!" exclaimed her suddenly, and then she tried to get calm… but she expoded again "SLEEPING!! How the hell could you imagine I would be sleeping knowing you could never come back, Albus?! How the hell could I be as calm as to fall asleep while you're risking your life miles far from this castle?! How the hell could you mistrust my love in such a way?!" her hands moved on their own on her back touching everything on the shelve until they seemed to have found something enough big to hold and enough heavy to throw… a while later a little bust of Helga Hufflepuff flew above Albus head._

"_Don't do that!" shouted him._

"_Don't say me what I should or shouldn't do!" answered her throwing, this time, a heavy book that nearly crashed against the window._

"_Kitten, please… I still looking for the last book you threw by the window… could you just move away from my library?"_

"_Surely I can… I'll move away from your library, and your full live!" before she could leave the room Albus stopped her holding her arm, but while her nightdress stilled on his hand, a tabby cat run away under his legs. He followed the animal and could catch right when it tried to hide under the bed. Holding it hard to not let it run away again, Albus began to caress the neck of the little cat and it seemed to be calming slowly… Dumbledore sat on the bed with the cat on his lap._

"_I'm sorry, Minnie… I know what I promise, but I didn't want you to see me like I look when I arrived to the castle… I didn't want to worry you… but I was going to come to the Gryffindor tower to meet you at the sunrise, I promise…" the cat seemed to be ignoring his words… he closed his eyes, and sight thinking how he would have felt in love with that stubborn woman… but before he opened them again he felt a heavier body on top of him, and a soft kiss on his lips._

"_Did you really have to hold my nighty when I was transfigurating myself?"_

"_I knew you wouldn't go too far knowing you would be naked when you came back to your human form…" answered him smiling mischievously "Can you forgive me for not come to your room on first time?"_

"_I'm not sure… how are you going to apologize?" asked her rounding his neck with her arms._

"_What about with some passion before go down for breakfast?" asked him kissing her neck._

"_What if we have breakfast in here… so then we'll have more time for this passion you're gonna show me…" said her beginning to undress her lover._

_

* * *

_

Severus came in after Minerva… that was the first time he entered in there… he'd always met Dumbledore on his office… It was like a little apartment hided in a big castle… In first place there was a living room and a little kitchen on the left with a table just for two. In front the stairs he'd climb to go there from the Headmaster's office, there was a corridor with three doors, he imagined two bedrooms and one bathroom… It was cute… and he immediately understood Dumbledore didn't use to take anybody up there because there were a lot of pictures of her… of Minerva… and some of them both. He stayed a while observing that images… the only proves of their little secret… they look lovely… suddenly the sobs coming from one of the doors disturbed his mind.

"Minerva?" but before he could do a step someone knocked the door "Hello, Mrs. Pomfrey… is anything wrong?"

"Everything's right, profes- Headmaster… but I was told that Minerva would be here and I wanted to take this to her…She's come to the nursery before, but… she's left too quickly… It will help to calm her first weeks pains…" she gave a little bottle with a green liquid inside to him and stepped out the room.

"Poppy…" asked him.

"What is it, Severus?" she stopped and smiled because he'd been more familiar this time.

"How is she? I mean… is everything alright with the pregnancy… the baby…?"

"Minerva's not a young girl anymore, and she's just at her first month of pregnancy… I'm afraid she can lose the baby at any moment…"

"Does she…?"

"No! She knows nothing about this… This would worry her and…"

"I'll take care of her…"

"I'm sure of it, Severus"

After Poppy had left Severus listened Minerva crying again so he walked towards the door and cnocked it.

"Minerva?" asked him, but there was no answer "Minerva, can you open me the door, please?"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. 4 The dark side

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: Hello everybody!!! Have I already said I LOVE your reviews?!! 'Cause I really love each one of them!!! _

_Instead I'm sure you've discovered it, let me say that the italics fragments are flashbacks about Albus and Minerva… I just wanted you to have this clear, 'cause on this chapter Minerva's mind is going to fly at any moment to the past, so I didn't want you to get lost on the story… KISSES!!!_

Chapter four: **The dark side**

Minerva opened her eyes and gazed the clock on the night table. It was late on the afternoon… she had fallen asleep on the sheets of the bed she'd shared as many times with Albus…

"_Albus…" whispered her "Albus, honey, wake up, it's late…"_

"_Which time is it?" asked him facing her._

"_It's eight o'clock, sweeter… we should be downstairs having breakfast since fifteen minutes ago…"_

"_Then, it doesn't matter if we stay fifteen more in here…" he made a quick movement and suddenly he was on top of her kissing her lips._

The little apartment above the Headmaster's office was really quiet… Minerva looked around, but Severus didn't seem to be there… By the way, the table was laid and it smelled really well. Right when she was going to sit down someone opened the door and she turned round.

"Who's there?" asked her.

"_Is this the best way you have to receive me?" _

"_Albus!" exclaimed Minerva running towards him and jumping to his arms._

"_What were you doing here?" asked him embracing her and raising one leg to close the door._

"_I… was worried about you" said her among some tears she didn't let to fell "You've been out for weeks and I… I was beginning to think that…" no more words were needed… he understood her feelings perfectly… and knowing she was as sad was breaking his heart._

"_Tabby…" whispered him on a sight, leaving her on the floor and caressing her soft hair._

"_What…?!" exclaimed her suddenly grabbing his burned arm._

"_This is nothing, Kitty… just another scare for my collection…" lied him smiling and removing his black hand from her eyes._

"_It doesn't seem nothing to me…" said her grabbing his arm again._

"_Have I ever lied you?" asked him kissing her forehead "Trust me… it's nothing…"_

"I'm sorry, I hope I haven't wake you up…" said Severus coming in and closing the door behind him. But Minerva didn't listened to him… she'd stayed in the middle of the living room with her look lost somewhere behind the closed door "Minerva, are you alright?"

"He was lying to me right then…" said her "That bastard had lied me all these years, saying me all was fine when everything was wrong…"

"If you're talking about Albus, I'm sure every time he lied you was to protect you…"

"I knew that wasn't just nothing… I knew that black hand was the result of dangerous curse… but I didn't imagine at that right moment he was going to leave me…" some tears began to fill her eyes. Severus noticed that, walked towards her and holding her shoulders made her sit down.

"Madame Pomfrey advised me you should rest a lot, so I asked the elfs to take your lunch here…" said him sitting down next to her and serving the food.

"Haven't you eaten, yet?" asked her gazing his plate.

"Well… after the bombshell you've dropped this morning I'm trying to meet the less people I can by the castle…"

"I'm sorry…" said her suddenly "I… I guess I behave like a kid…"

"You did" said him harshly, but then added "But I understand…" The stayed a long while without saying nothing, just eating, until Snape noticed that green shinny crystal on her hand "Where have you taken the ring from?" asked him suddenly.

"Oh…!" she gazed it too, and laughed "I… transfigured a frog…"

"What?!"

"It was what I had closer… I couldn't appear there and tell that without a prove…" she continued laughing"

"Are you really saying me this wonderful jewel was a dirty frog this morning?"

"Yeah, I am… don't you believe me? I could take it to her original form if you wish…""No… no… it's not necessary… but… you're really good!"

"Of course I am!"

"I'm saying it seriously… I wouldn't have been able to keep it as a jewel for more than a few minutes…"

"That's because you aren't me…"

"Is it possible to keep a chat with you?" asked him a little upset.

"I'm sorry…" said her giggling "So… Poppy was here?"

"She was"

"Didn't she say anything else?"

"She took you something for the first week pains of the pregnancy… nothing else…"

"Are you sure?"

"What else should she say?"

"Nothing… nothing" whispered her, and after a long while she added "She knows"

"Who knows what?"

"Poppy knows all this is a lie…" cleared her.

"I guessed it"

"I didn't tell her" quickly said Minerva "She… she'd already supposed it… she's been my friend since… ever… she knows myself better than anyone…"

"Don't worry… I don't matter… it's fine that you have someone to talk with… I trust on her if you do…"

"Thanks" she said smiling, and he smiled too "Are you gonna eat that?" asked her pointing the dish in front of Severus, who'd been a long while without tasted it.

"It's all yours" said him "Minerva… there's something I have to ask you…"

"What is it?"

"Well… the suddenly love story will not work with Who-must-not-be-named and the rest of Death Eaters…" said him "I have a meeting tonight, and I guess the news about our wedding will have already arrived there… so…"

* * *

"Severus… haven't you anything to tell us?" asked the diabolic voice of Lord Voldemort while his red eyes gazed him.

"I don't think so, my lord…"

"What about your wedding plans with Mrs. McGonagall?"

"Oh… that… I was going to tell you about that when all was ready, my lord…"

"Do you mean you're really getting married with who's been the right hand of Albus Dumbledore during all these years?"

"I thought she would be useful if we wanted the rest of staff of the school to trust on me as their headmaster, my lord…"

"But she's always fight against us! I remember her as a really annoying student… she already was Dumbledore's favorite one when he was our teacher… I always thought they would ended together…" he laughed and the Death Eaters laughed too "I guess it wouldn't have been right for Albus to end in a relationship with one of his students…"

"She still as annoying as you remember her, my lord… but I've made a passion curse to her… now she's a puppet I can manage with my fingers…" said Severus smiling.

"You've cursed Professor McGonagall!?" exclaimed both Carrows at the same time.

"Doesn't this curse need to be said while…" began Malfoy.

"It does, Lucius" answered Snape "It needs to be said while both subjects are involved in a sex interaction…"

"So, you and Mrs. McGonagall…" said Lestrange.

"I raped her, Bella…" told Snape.

"This is getting interesting…" whispered Voldemort.

"If you really did… why don't you shows us that remember?!" exclaimed the Carrow brother.

"I don't think…" began Severus.

"Do it" ordered Lord Voldemort "Let us enjoy her pain…"

Without say anything else Severus raised her wand and took out of his mind a silver liquid that left on a little calyx that Pettigrew left on the table.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	5. 5 A bad night, a worst morning

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: Let me say, before begin the chapter, that you all are wonderful readers!!! It's lovely write for people like you… because you're always keeping an eye on my updates and ready for your lovely reviews. _

_Unfortunately, as McGonagallFan asked me, I don't know any website about Minerva and Snape… but surely I'll try to find them…_

Chapter five: **A bad night, a worst morning**

Severus opened the door carefully. It was late on the night and he didn't want to wake Minerva up, but it seemed there was light on her bedroom.

"Minerva?" asked him knocking the door "Are you ok?" but any answer came from the other side "Minerva?" she might be sleeping and maybe had forget to put the light off, anyway he wasn't sure… "Minerva… I'm coming in…" he opened the door slowly, and found her sitting on the floor, with her back against the bed, crying with her head between her knees. The sheets of the bed were on the floor and there was blood on them. He opened his eyes wildly, and without say a word he took Minerva on his arms, not noticing she was just wearing her nightdress on, and them both disappeared of the room. A while later they appeared at the nursery, but nobody seemed to be there.

"Madame Pomfrey?! Poppy?! Poppy?!!" shouted him leaving Minerva on the bed "Alright, don't move from here… I'm coming back in a while…" Severus disappeared and appeared back in a few seconds and taking Madame Pomfrey with him.

"Severus Snape, I don't care who you are now… this is not the right way to…!" was shouting her, but she stopped when saw Minerva "What's the matter?" asked gazing him.

"There was blood on her sheets when I came into her room…"

"Blood?!" exclaimed the nurse walking towards the bed "Min, dear… I'll need you to tell me what's happened…"

"I woke up at midnight when I noticed some pain on my belly… then I found out I was bleeding…"

"Why didn't you came immediately?!" said Madame Pomfrey looking for something in a cupboard at the other side of the room "You know you can wake me up at any time, honey!"

"I don't know… I…"

"Minerva!" yelled the nurse suddenly "Don't dare to say you thought on losing the baby!"

"I…"

"Did you?" asked Severus.

"No… not really, but… it was a passed throw my mind…"

"Why?!"

"It would end with this madness, Severus! You wouldn't need to risk your life with the Death Eaters, and I wouldn't need to lie my friends…" told her seriously.

"Minerva… I killed your love… this is my way to pay for my sin… and you're having a son, yours and his… don't you think 'all this madness' is a very small price for having what you're gonna birth?"

"It doesn't matter now… I've killed my baby!" yelled her crying.

"You haven't…" said Madame Pomfrey offering her a glass of a transparent green liquid.

"What?!"

"You haven't killed anybody, Min… the baby will be alive as long as you wish him to be…" said Poppy harshly and upset going out of the room. Minerva stayed in shock on the bed while Severus left too.

"Are them both really ok?" asked Severus when Minerva couldn't listen to them.

"They are… what's happened tonight has been nothing… just a remind of her period… she'll be might bleeding during a couple more days, but if she still lying there won't be any danger for the baby…"

"So why didn't you tell her?"

"Haven't you listen what she's said?! She really thought on let her baby die, Severus!" she stopped a while and breathed hard as if she was trying to stop a sob "If I make her think she's nearly made a madness tonight, she'll be conscious of how she desires that little life inside of her…"

"But…"

"But nothing, Severus! She's lost the only man who's respected her… the only one who's really loved her… you've taken him from her hands… so now you'll take care that she gives his son birth…" advised her "Because this kid will be her new reason to live…"

Severus just nodded and then went back to the room where Minerva was. She raised her head and gazed him with red and wed eyes when he entered, he sat down on the chair next to the bed and his look get lost at some point at the corner of the room.

"I'll marry you… and you'll born this baby… then I'll take care that you both are as happy as Dumbledore would make you…" suddenly he turned round to her and his eyes seemed to be crying too "Minerva I do want to do this, it's more than an obligation or a favor I'm doing to the last headmaster of the school, for me… I killed Albus, instead I did it following his orders, I did it… so am responsible of your future, now… 'cause things would have been different if I hadn't done what I did…"

* * *

When the sun began to shine through the nursery windows Minerva was peacefully sleeping and Severus was resting on the chair next to the bed. Suddenly the noise of someone opening the door woke him up.

"Are you hungry?" asked Madame Pomfrey from the frame door.

"Sure" whispered Severus wondering to not awake Minerva. He stood up carefully and went outside. In the middle of the big room of the nursery there was a little table with toasts, muffins, juice, milk and some coffee for them.

"I'll gave something to eat to Mina after she'd waken up… right now I prefer her to rest calmly…"

"Mina?" asked Severus.

"It's the pet name I used to call her when we were students… Rolanda preferred Min 'cause it was shorter… but Dumbledore's once where funnier… he used to call her Kitten or Tabby even before they began to be a partner… that annoyed her a lot…"

"You three began together at Hogwarts?" asked him.

"No… Rolanda's two years younger than us, we met her when she entered at the quidditch team of her house… Minerva was the captain of Griffindor then… They both spent all the time arguing, until… until the day Minerva was wounded…"

"What happened?" wondered Severus drinking some juice.

"They were playing against Hufflepuff… winning… If Mina could get the butterfly Griffindor would win that year… suddenly… one of the balls crossed the air directly to Minerva, she lost her balance and felt from the broom… subjected just by one hand, the ball attacked her again and she felt down… Rolanda saw her, and instead that were their opportunity to win us, she went down quickly and took Mina before she crashed against the ground"

"Who won finally?" asked him. It seemed he was enjoying that story.

"Minerva's broomstick was broken, and also a few of her bones, but she never gives up easily… I'm not sure what they talked being on the ground, but a while later Mina was flying up again with Ro's broom… Griffindor won that year, and Minerva stayed at the nursery until the holidays…" she beat her toast and then continued "She left the quidditch after that… but she could have been really good…"

"That was the deal…" suddenly said Rolanda's voice from the nursery's door "She asked me my broom and I said I would just borrow it to her if she made me the new quidditch star of the school… She trained me the next year, but she has never taken a broomstick again…"

"Good morning, Ro… What are you doing here?"

"The pictures of the main stair were talking about some noises that haven't let them sleep tonight… so I asked them and they told me Min was in here… Is she alright? What has him done to her this time?"

"I've not…" began Severus.

"She's fine, Ro… thanks to him" interrupted Madame Pomfrey remarking the word thanks.

"You must be joking, Poppy! You can't agree with this!"

"I agree with my friend's decisions…"

"Alright… I'm not gonna argue again… but someone has said me he came back really late tonight…"

Without reply to that, Severus stood up and walked to the room's door.

"Did I say anything that offended you, Headmaster?" asked Rolanda with a sarcastic kind tone.

"You didn't, Professor Hooch… I'm just wondering how is my fiancée…" said him going into the room.

* * *

When Minerva ended her dinner Severus took her plates and left them at the corridor. When he was going back to the room an old man that limped from his left leg crossed the corridor and went into the room followed by Madame Pomfrey.

"Minerva McGonagall, is it true that you're going to get married?!" exclaimed the man.

"I'm sorry, Mina… I asked him to wait outside…" apologized the nurse.

"It's fine, Poppy…" said Minerva trying to raise herself "Hello, father…"

Severus went into the room right when Poppy was leaving it, and helped Minerva to sit on the sheets putting a pillow on her back.

"Is this the man you're marrying with?"

"His name's Severus, father… Severus Snape…"

"Snape? I don't any Snape…"

"My mother name was Prince…" told Severus gazing that man.

"Prince… Eileen Prince? Didn't she marry a dirty muggle?"

"She did"

"I'm not going to let my daughter marry a mixed blood wizard!"

"Father… I don't care what you think about…"

"Shut up!" ordered Minerva's father punching the bed close to where Minerva's leg was "Why do you want to marry my daughter? Are you scared about the new laws that The Darkness Lord's taking?" asked staring at Severus.

"Severus is the right hand of Voldemort, father… and he'll be the new headmaster of the school…" told her.

"Really?"

"Lord Voldemort has a special confidence with me…" said Severus "but…"

"This is wonderful!" exclaimed the man embracing Severus while this one gazed Minerva.

"My father fought at Who-you-knows side during the war…" cleared Minerva answering to the question on Severus' eyes.

"Oh… it's a pleasure, Mr. McGonagall…" said Severus.

"Oh no…" whispered Minerva.

"My name's William Lestrange…" told the man while Severus hided his surprise "Didn't Minerva told you she was already married?"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	6. 6 Questions, asnwers and remembers I

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: Again, THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS!!! I love knowing you like my story!! So I'll try to not be long and be able to begin the fanfic… I also would like to apologize again, and a hundred more times, for my horrible grammar and orthography, and say thanks to the one to advised me I was using the word nursery with a wrong meaning… I'm sorry, really sorry!!!_

Chapter six: **Questions, answers and remembers 1**

"Say it" asked Minerva right after her father left the room.

"You're a Lestrange!?" exclaimed Severus.

"I was… a long time ago…" answered her.

"And you are married?! I thought the only love on your life had been Albus"

"Well… marriage has nothing to do with love sometimes… I thought you'd already learnt this lately…" said her obviously thinking on their engagement.

"But you are. Were you ever going to tell me about your marriage?"

"I'll tell you more about my life after you've told me about yours…"

"There's nothing to be told…" answered him.

"The same I say" answered her. Then Severus left closing the door bravely.

* * *

"Why did you never told me?!" shouted Severus going into his office and waking up all the old Hogwarts' headmasters.

"What had I to told you?" asked Albus voice after Snape had sat down on his desk.

"Minerva's father has been here…"

"I see… so you've noticed she doesn't look like him…" told the picture on the wall "this is because she's the image of her mother, Angelica McKellen… she was a wonderful Scottish witch… very nice…"

"You've never mentioned she was a Lestrange" suddenly interrupted Severus "…and that she was already married once!"

"Does it change anything?" asked the portrait.

"No… I guess it doesn't, but… I'd always thought you both were… I mean… she got married once, but it wasn't with you, so…"

"I'm not the right person to answer your questions, Severus…"

"But I can't ask her… she won't answer me!"

"Maybe not now…" said the picture "the only way to know the truth is by asking the right questions to the right persons at the right moments…"

. . .

Severus went back to the hospital, but this time didn't cross the corridor to the room where Minerva was, just looked for Mrs. Pomfrey and sat down in front of her without say anything.

"You know everything" said.

"What?"

"You knew her when she still being Minerva Lestrange… you can tell me about her past…"

"I'm not going to ask you how you know about her relation with the Lestrange family, but I'm neither going to tell you anything… Ask her if you want any answer"

"She's not gonna say anything to me… and you know I can take the answers I wish without ask you with the legilimens…"

"Minerva's not going to like this…" whispered Poppy closing her eyes a while.

* * *

(this are Poppy Pomfrey's remembers)

_It was the first day of school, I went to the train station with my grandmother and while waiting for go into the train I noticed a black-haired girl rounded by two boys and her father. Maybe there wasn't anything weird on that scene, but I had spent my childhood in a girls college so seeing that was really odd for me at that moment._

"_Poppy keep your eyes away from that people, please!" advised my grandma when she saw me "They are dark wizards, you shouldn't have any relation with them, ok?"_

_I used to be a really obedient kid, but later, in the train, I met the girl alone into a cabin and I couldn't resist to sit next to her. After me, another two girls came into the cabin._

"_Hi" I said "My name's Poppy, Poppy Pomfrey"_

"_Hello, I'm Minerva Lestrange" answered her kindly. Immediately, the other two girls stood up and left whispering something._

_We looked to each other, asking ourselves what had happened. Right then, nor me, who'd gone to muggle's schools until then, and nor Minerva, that was too young to had learned that, knew that her family name used to inspire that kind of fear to people._

_We were in silence for a long while, listening the steps of people crossing by the corridor, of doors closing, and families saying goodbye to their kids. When the train began to move we listened a woman shouting._

"_Does anybody want a snack? I have sweets and cookies… anything you wish!"_

_Minerva took her head out of the cabin, and I made like her. The woman was caring a trade with any kind of sweets, and behind her there was a girl of our age opening a door after a door._

"_Can I sit with you?" asked her to a group of boys, but them closed the door on her nose "There's a free place in here?" tried with the ladies next to our cabin, but them put a suitcase on the sit. _

"_There's a lot of place in here!" exclaimed the black-haired girl I was supposed to be scared of "You can sit with us! Can her?" asked suddenly turning to me._

"_Of-of course" answered I._

"_Hi!" exclaimed the slim girl coming in with a basket full of muffins and chocolates "Are you hungry?" she offered us some of that delicious sweets and I took one while she said "My name's Augusta, nice to meet you"_

"_Nice to meet you" answered Minerva smiling, and suddenly someone opened our door._

"_Here you are!" exclaimed a black-haired boy gazing to Minerva "Leonard's looking for you! Daddy said we should look after you, so come to the Slytherin zone"_

"_Say Leo I'm fine and let me stay with my friends, please" she raised her wand and closed the door._

"_Who was this guy?" asked Augusta._

"_He's my brother, this is the first year for the both of us…"_

"_Are you twins?" I asked._

"_We are… but we don't look like each other at any way"_

* * *

_At the school, Professor Albus Dumbledore was who walked us to the dinning room and the one who said our names to be taken to one of the four houses of Hogwarts. All of us were talking, nobody was paying attention to what that old hat was saying until Dumbledore said:_

"_Thomas William Lestrange" _

_While Minerva's twin brother climbed the stairs, a lot of students from the Slitherin table stood up and cheered._

"_Lestrange! Lestrange! Lestrange!" shouted a big group of black-haired boys and girls of different ages._

"_Who are all them?" asked Augusta gazing the table of our left._

"_My older brothers and cousins…" answered Minerva shyly._

"_All your family's from Slitherin?!" exclaimed her._

"_Yes…" whispered her sadly._

"_So you… are you going to the snake house too?!"_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Stop it, Augusta" I asked "You can go to the house you wish, Mina…"_

_We hadn't listen what the hat had said to Thomas, but we saw him walking to the Slitherin table while Dumbledore said._

"_Angelica Minerva Lestrange"_

"_Don't worry, all will be fine" I said holding her hand while she left._

"_Yeah, we can be friends instead you go to Slitherin…" said Augusta not really convincing._

_Again the cheers began at the table of the left side of the dinning room._

"_Lestrange! Lestrange! Lestrange!" _

_Dumbledore took the hat and left it on Minerva's head. This time Augusta and I paid all our attention to its words._

"_Another Lestrange…! I imagine you'd like to go with your relatives, don't you? Or maybe you don't…" it seemed the hat was thinking while Minerva's eyes began to fill with tears "I see… your heart is pure… too much kind to find its place among the interests of the Slitherin tradition… You're different, surely you deserve to be in… Gryffindor"_

_Suddenly the cheers from the table of the left stopped._

"_TRAITOR!" shouted a voice._

"_FAKE!"_

"_DISGRACE!" _

"_You're not a real Lestrange!"_

"_Dad's gonna kill you!"_

_Minerva run out crying but when she was going to sit down on the Gryffindor table someone shouted._

"_We don't want you here!"_

"_Any Lestrange is welcomed at our house!"_

"_Go with your clan!"_

"_Run away from here, fake!"_

_She didn't reply to any of their comments, just run away to the big door._

"_Shut up!" suddenly shouted Dumbledore before the Headmaster could stand from his chair. All the shouts stopped suddenly and Minerva turned round and gazed the blonde-haired man "This is not the way I expected the Gryffindor house to behave! Your house…" and he pointed to the named table "…the house I'm the head of, is supposed to be fair with anyone, so please, made some place for our new student, don't matter which family she comes from…" This time he looked to the girl in front the big door of the bottom "Mrs. Lestrange, you can sit with your colleagues and, please, forgive their behave. About the Slitherin students…" he turned to the left "… and the members of the Lestrange family who'd shouted all that horrible things, I'm sure the head of your house will fine a right way to punish you… Now… let's continue with the selection…"_

_My turn came a few names later. My grandmother had gone to Revenclaw, I knew she expected me to follow her steps, but I couldn't leave that girl alone… I sat on the chair and begged that hat to say Gryffindor… it wasn't really difficult to convince it. When I saw Minerva smile after I had sat next to her I knew we would be good friends… Augusta came later and sat with us, following the Gryffindor tradition of her family._

_

* * *

_

"…Minerva was a wonderful girl, she was my best friend for the seven years we spent at Hogwarts, and she still being after the school… trust me when I say the only relation she has with the Lestrange family is her name, because her heart has always been as pure as that hat find it that night…" ended Poppy.

"But her brothers and cousins threatened her… didn't anybody do anything to her? Didn't anybody try to change the hat opinion?"

"I just know Mr. Lestrange came the day after and talked with Fortescue, the Headmaster, and Dumbledore… but I really don't know what happened in that office… I just know Minerva never left Gryffindor, so I suppose the two professors said him it wasn't possible to change her…"

"Thanks, Poppy"

"Is it all?"

"No… don't you know anybody I could talk with? I would really like to know more about Minerva's past…

"I'll say you again the best way would be to ask her, but I'm sure Augusta will tell you more things that me, she has a better memory…"

"Augusta…?" asked him.

"Augusta Longbottom, of course" said Mrs. Pomfrey leaving Severus alone.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. 7 Questions, answers and remembers II

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

_A/N: I'm not gonna get tired of saying: THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS!!! But I will be shorter this time and begin the story right now… I hope you enjoy it!! _;P

Chapter six: **Questions, answers and remembers 2**

"Poppy?" asked Minerva's voice from the inside of the room she was "Poppy Pomfrey I've seen your shadow through the window!" exclaimed her "I know you are there, so come here, please!"

"What's the matter, Minerva?" asked the nurse.

"Are you hiding from me?"

"Of course I'm not!"

"So… why has nobody come to see me today?"

"Because everybody in the castle is preparing everything to leave for holidays, Mina…"

"Severus is not… Albus don't want me to leave Hogwarts protection wards…"

"You're right, Severus is not… he's at London…"

"At London?!!" exclaimed suddenly "What's he doing there?! He didn't say me he was gonna leave anywhere!"

"He left early in the morning, he had something to do there… but he'll be back at evening, and I'm sure he will come here immediately…"

"Why?! POPPY!!!" Minerva shouted noticing her friend was ignoring her and leaving the room without answer.

"What's happening in here?" asked Rolanda Hoock from the corridor "I thought it was with me that Min always argued with…"

"Good morning, Rolanda…" said Poppy "I didn't saw you at the dinning room today…"

"That's because I've gone to Hogsmade early to take something to our new mamma…" she took out a box and gave it to Minerva "It's a present… I wanted to apologize for everything I said… I still not understanding what's on your mind but, I suppose if you're doing this is because you think it's the right thing to do…"

"Thanks, Ro…" Minerva took the present and opened it. Inside there was a cuddly tabby cat with a collar saying _mummy_.

* * *

Meanwhile, in London, Severus was in front a lovely little white house with flowers everywhere of the garden he was going to cross. When he arrived at the door he knocked it politely and waited until a tall boy opened it and gazed at him with wildly opened eyes.

"Good morning, Mr. Longbottom" said Severus trying to seem as sever as he was at his classes "Isn't your grandmother at home? I sent her an owl saying…"

"Come in, Professor Snape… I'm in the kitchen…"

Neville stayed still next to the door while Severus went in not understanding what his potions' teacher was doing at his house.

"Good morning, Mrs. Longbottom"

"Good morning… sit down, please… I've made tea and cookies… would you like a piece of chocolate cake?" asked her opening the fridge.

"No, thanks…"

"You'll like it… Neville loves it… I'll give you some… you have to taste it… you'll love it…" insisted her ignoring Severus' replies. After serve some tea and leave the cake next to the cup, she continued talking "I have to say I thought something was wrong with my grandson when I received your owl, Professor… but when I read you were wondering about my relation with Minnie I was really glad you thought on me… Because Minnie and I were really good friends at Hogwarts… then our friendship get a little cold… but we recover the contact some years later… She was a wonderful girl… not like her brothers… she was that kind of friend you still having even after argue with her…"

"Mrs. Longbottom…" tried to interrupted Severus.

"I remember the first day at the train… she was the only one who let me sit down with her… and she was a Les… Do you want some more tea, Professor Snape?"

"You came from a poor family of London suburbs… Nobody wanted to be your friend, but her… a Lestrange…" he emphasized that name "The daughter of an as known dark wizards family didn't care to sit next to you and an orphan, Mrs. Pomfrey… You didn't understand… Everybody knew and still knowing the Lestrange family are one of the worst of our society… rich, important, influent and never care about anybody… they are related with two of the well known dark wizards families: the Black and the Malfoy… but that black-haired and fair-skin girl with shiny green eyes was different… she was kind… and modest… and she was going to be a Gryffindor…"

"The hat took her to Gryffindor, also Poppy and I went with her… Her relatives in the school were upset because she hadn't gone to Slytherin, and the Gryffindor members didn't like knowing a Slytherin follower was on their house. We had met her on the train, we knew she was different and we were her only friends during the first weeks… but things began to change after people began to see how intelligent and clever she was… her marks at the exams gave a lot of points to the Gryffindor house… she began to help people with homework and every body asked her some help for the exams… I know they were just interested on themselves, but that was the only way they found out she wasn't like the Lestranges they were scared of…"

"Mrs. Pomfrey told me Minerva's father tried to take her out of Gryffindor…"

"Oh! Sure he did! He came right the day after the selection and met both Fortescue and Dumbledore… but I suppose they said him it was impossible 'cause Minerva never left the Gryffindor tower, until the sixth year…"

"What do you mean?" asked him really interested on that new information.

"I'm not sure if I… well… if I should tell this to you…"

"Have I mentioned you Minerva and I are engaged, Mrs. Longbottom?" suddenly said Snape with a kind voice that didn't seem to be his.

"Oh my godness?! Really?! She's gonna get married?!!" exclaimed the woman.

"Yeah… and we both would be so glad to see you in the wedding…" then he stopped and his face and both returned to normal Severus once "…if you continue that story."

"During the next years at Hogwarts…" began Augusta "…Minerva gained a lot of friends in our house, Hufflepuff and Revenclaw, not just because of her intelligence, also because she became the best quidditch player of the school… but it was impossible with Slytherin students… their loyalty and fear against the Lestranges made them hate Minerva as much as her own family did. The only one able to stop their plans to annoy and hurt her was her brother… instead Leonard was a Slytherin, the love for his little sister was stronger than that and he was always looking after Minnie… but when we began our sixth year he'd already ended the school and nobody was there to protect her from the snake followers…"

"What happened?" insisted Severus.

"I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well… I really don't know what happened… I'm not sure what that crazy boys did to her, she never told us… but after disappear during a few days Minerva sent us an owl saying she was leaving the school for a few time…"

_Dear Poppy, Augusta and Ro,_

_I would have really like to say goodbye to you in another way, but I've not been able to. I'm fine, but I've find myself obligated to leave the tower… I would love to tell you my reasons in this letter but I can't, anyway, I'm neither sure if this would be the best way._

_Please, don't get too mad with me, I'm not doing this willingly and I'll try to meet you the sooner as possible, instead I'm not really sure to be able to come back to my classes._

_With deep affection,_

… _your always friend,_

_ Minerva._

* * *

"Curiosity killed the cat" were the first words Severus listened when he came back to his office.

"But satisfaction brought him back…" answered him sitting on his desk and turning back to the picture of the wall.

"You're going too fast…" advised Dumbledore.

"I'm getting married the next week, I want to know who with…"

"You're marrying the woman you knew as Minerva McGonagall, transfiguration teacher of the Hogwarts school… Whatever was before her are just blurred remembers…"

"Why?! She was a Lestrange… but as I've learned, everybody understood she was different… so why is she and everyone as stubborn on hide that wonderful young girl that amazed a full school?"

"You've asked Mrs. Pomfrey and Mrs. Longbottom… follow the right order of people and you'll get the answers soon…"

"You mean I should try with Rolanda, now? She hates me, she's sure I've charmed Minerva or something else!"

"I'm not saying you what to do… just what you should do…"

"Alright… but she's gonna kick me"

"Severus…" asked Albus before he'd stood up.

"Yeah?"

"Remember everything has a price and be sure you'll have to pay yours before reach the end"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	8. 8 Questions, answers and remembers III

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic.**_

_**A/N: I would like to have enough time to answer each one of your reviews, but I can't right now… so I'll just say THANKS TO EVERYBODY!!! **_

**Chapter eight: Questions, answers and remembers 3**

Rolanda Hooch was leaving the hospital after visit her friend when a black old owl crossed the room and threw a letter on her hands.

_Mrs. Hooch,_

_Come to the Headmaster's office immediately, please._

S.S.

Rolanda made a ball with the paper and threw it to the floor while she left the room. A few minutes later she was crossing the Headmaster's office door.

"What's the matter… headmaster?" asked her emphasizing on the last word.

"I would like to talk with you… about Minerva…" told him standing up from his chair and walking around the table.

"I have nothing to talk with you instead about the school, Professor Snape, so, if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving…" she turned round and opened the door, but Severus raised his wand and closed it again.

"I'm not a killer!" exclaimed him while Rolanda faced him taking her wand out too "Dumbledore asked me to kill him, and I did it… but he was dying anyway… It was the only way to don't let the young Malfoy do it…"

"Did you really expect me to believe this hero story?"

"I didn't… that's why I prepared myself to show it to you…" he moved his wand and made Rolanda sat on the chair in front of his desk. He sat on the furniture and closed his eyes. Suddenly, on Rolanda's mind appeared one of the school corridors, she was on front Albus Dumbledore, still alive, and he was talking with Severus.

* * *

A few floors lower someone was crossing the hospital's corridor and going into Minerva's room.

"Alastor, what a surprise!" exclaimed her trying to sit down.

"Don't move, dear… Poppy's said you need to rest…" advised Moody while the door closed itself "So… how are you?"

"As good as I can…" answered her on a sight.

"I knew you would be bad after Albus death, but… never as much as to accept Severus marriage propose…"

"Well… I've not done this exactly on my will… I'm sure you understand me…" told her.

"Of course I do… You mean this is another one of Albus' crazy plans… I hope it will work better than others, but… what are you three trying to hide, honey?"

"I…"

"Come on, Mina… We studied together… we've fight together on the war… we entered together on the order…"

"I'm expecting a baby…" said her shyly "…from Albus…"

"For Merlin… You must be kidding?! Are you really expecting a son from that old-man?!"

"HEY! Don't talk like that about my Percy!!"

"Never!" joked him "So… you're pregnant…" he stayed a long while staring her belly "I would never imagined I would see you as a… mom"

"Well… here I am… expecting a son of a death man, and waiting for marry another one…" she sighted and then they stayed another long while in silence.

"Why have you asked me to come, Minerva?" suddenly asked Moody.

* * *

Both Rolanda and Severus opened their eyes at the same time. Nobody said anything for a while, but Rolanda couldn't take her look away from the dark dressed man in front of her.

"You were supposed to never know this… just me, Minerva and a few members of the Order of the Phoenix knows the truth about what happened on the tower. So don't get upset with Minerva, 'cause she couldn't tell this to you, alright?" he stopped a while, Hooch still looking at him but not saying anything "I'm telling to you because I need you to trust on me… Dumbledore asked me to protect Minerva and their son, but I'll not be able to do it as good as I can if I don't know more about her relationship with her family…"

"Minerva has no family…" said Rolanda stopping her silence.

"She has. She's a Lestrange… you know it, Poppy knows it, and I know it too…"

"Minerva hates her family, she's never been like them… her father's always been an old crock… he obligated her to get married just to hide she hadn't been a slytherin…"

"When did she get married?"

"During the Christmas holidays of our last year… He knew her daughter would have never accepted after reach the legal age… it was of eighteen then, and she was gonna reach them at April…"

"So, after leave the school at your sixth year she came back again?" asked Severus.

"She did" answered her not asking how he knew about that "She came back the next year like if anything had happened… She told us she'd been taking private classes on her house, so she could pass the curse… We believed her, instead she seemed some different… she was more shyly, and sometimes she disappeared of the room suddenly… she began to be really friendly with Dumbledore that year… it was his first year as the Headmaster…"

"What about her new husband?"

"She married him at Christmas, but she didn't met him again until we ended the school… I don't know too much about him, Min never talk about those years… she was married with him for just seven years, until he dead. I know he was ill, but that never was a problem to beat her"

"Do you mean he mistreated her?"

"She's never told, but I'm sure of it… she always said Arnold was a good man, but I saw her with bruises on her skin… and Poppy had to attend her for some broken bones at least twice"

"Thanks, Rolanda… you've been a good help" said him raising and walking to the door "Have a nice holidays…"

"Severus, wait, please…"

"Yes?"

"Now I know what you're really doing for Min, I would like to… advise you that if you've lied me and you ever tried to hurt her I will kill you"

"It's good to know it" said him before leave the office and go downstairs.

* * *

When Severus reached the hall Alastor Moody was leaving the hospital.

"Severus!" exclaimed the auror.

"What are you doing in the school, Alastor? There's anything wrong in the order?"

"Oh no… I just learned Minerva was in the hospital so I wanted to visit her… Congratulations for the wedding!" said offering his hand to the headmaster.

"I'm sure she's told you everything…" whispered Severus while the two men embraced each other.

"She's said the right wards to let me guess rest…" cleared Moody "Take care of my girl"

"Be sure of it" said Severus stepping to the door, but suddenly stopped "Alastor, can I walk you to the outsides?" he didn't need an answer, just began to walk next to Moody "You're just a couple years older than Minerva, aren't you?"

"I am" said him.

"And you were a Gryffindor too, so I'm sure you met her as Minerva Lestrange…" after say that, Alastor began to laugh "What's the matter?"

"Well… Minerva was sure you were trying to learn more about her past… I didn't come on a simple visit… she asked me to come, she wanted to allow me before you find me…"

"Allow you to what?" asked Severus.

"To answer your questions…"

"She's allowed you to tell me everything?!" exclaimed him on surprise.

"No… just the answers to your questions…" told Moody, and then he told "Poppy told Minerva you'd been asking about her, you should have imagined that being as friends as they are she would tell Mina quickly. So Minerva asked Poppy to send an owl to Augusta, which she answered telling everything she'd told you. What Mina didn't know yet was that while we were talking you were with Rolanda…" Moody took out a paper from his pocket, the note Severus had sent to Hooch "… but I'm sure they are talking about this right now…" he stopped a while and then continued "So… let's answer your questions, Headmaster…"

"Can you tell me about Arnold McGonagall?" asked Severus trying to not show too much interest.

"He came from a famous Scottish clan of wizards… he was the only inherit of a big fortune and a lot of properties… He was about fifteen years older than Minerva, and he'd never been able to get married because he was ill since he was a child. William Lestrange was sure that guy would be the best husband for her daughter, who hadn't gone to Slytherin, so any other dark wizard would accept her as his wife"

"Rolanda mentioned he mistreated her…"

"This is not true! That wizard was hardly able to stand up by himself…"

"What about the bruises she said Minerva had?"

"Hooch likes to exaggerate… But it's true someone mistreated Minerva, but it wasn't Arnold… it was her own family…"

"What do you mean?"

"Mina's father knew instead he'd obligated her to marry that man, Minerva would try to escape or whatever before do with her duties as a wife, so he sent her brothers to live with the couple to keep an eye on her. Nothing happened during the first months, but later Leonard met a girl and married her, so left the house and Minerva found herself alone against her twin brother who'd always hated his sister. He couldn't understand why their father still loving her instead she hadn't showed any respect to their ideas… Thomas not just made sure that Minerva didn't leave her husband, also that she learned to be obedient."

"Couldn't nobody help her? Her father, her husband…"

"Leo, her older brother, was leaving in France with his wife's family; William Lestrange was then too busy preparing the war with his darkness colleagues; and Arnold… well… he had enough knowing his necessities were satisfied…"

"What about you? You seem to know everything what happened…"

"Be sure I would have killed that bastard if I had known that then, but I didn't found out what was happening until Dumbledore sent me to ask Minerva if she wanted to accept a teacher place in the school…" Alastor stopped a while, breathed hard and then continued "I knew where she was living 'cause I'd been at Leonard's wedding… that had been the last time I had talked with her… When I arrived to that old castle in Scotland, it was her brother who received me and said I couldn't meet her…"

* * *

"Why?" I asked.

"She's not at home…" answered Thomas.

"I'll wait for her, there's no problem… but I need to talk with her personally…"

"There's no way, so leave, please"

I didn't stay to argue with that man, but I neither leave… I waited until it get darker and then I made an invisible charm on me to appear into the castle. I walked by the corridors hoping to listen a familiar voice… suddenly, behind a corner, I saw the shadow of Thomas. I followed him to a modest bedroom with books everywhere.

"Where are you?" asked his voice. For a while I thought he knew I was behind him because there wasn't anybody else in that room, but suddenly the long hair of a woman appeared under the bed.

"What the hell are you doing down there?! You should spend more time on your husband's bed and less under yours…" he waited until the slim but well-curved body of Minerva had raised up to say "Do you know why is Alastor Moody looking for you?" Minerva gazed her brother quickly and for a while I felt she was staring me… her eyes filled with tears that she didn't let fell.

"I don't" said with serenity. Suddenly Thomas made a step towards her and grabbed her wrist as hard that I could nearly feel her pain.

"Don't lie me, sister…" he took out his wand and touched her shoulder with it. And while Minerva curled and felt on her knees making a hard effort to not shout, to not cry, he continued "…old boyfriends don't reappeared for nothing…"

I wanted to kick that guy, to charm him with all the forbidden charms I knew… but her lips, her beautiful, sweet and red lips where asking me to wait… she knew I was there… I didn't know how but she did… and I obeyed… I clenched my fists and did nothing. After Thomas had left the room Minerva quickly closed the door with the key, and came right where I was. While her arms embraced me my body became visible again…

"Minerva…" I whispered. I didn't know what to say… I repeated her name while I caressed her hair and her back, while I kissed her neck and she cried on my shoulder, but I didn't know what to say.

"What are you doing here?" asked her suddenly moving apart.

"Dumbledore sent me… he wants you to teach in the school…"

"I already said him I'm not going to accept his place… not while he stills able to…"

"It's not for transfiguration… it's for flying…"

"Anyway I can't…" she hesitated and then continued "I can't leave the castle and… I once did a promise I must keep… so I can't teach flying…"

"Minerva you must get out from here! You can't let your brother abuse of you like this!"

"You shouldn't have seen it, Alastor… so I would be really pleased if you do as if…"

"I'm not gonna forget what I've seen, Mina!" I regretted my tone after see her tears sliding down her cheeks "Don't cry, Minerva, please…" we sat on the bed and I embraced her softly "I'm sorry… I didn't want to…" suddenly she stood up and removed her hair from her back.

"Can you unzip it, please?" asked her.

"Minerva I don't think…" I hesitated.

"Do it, please…" I obeyed after her insistence. My hands trembled while her dress began to slide down her shoulders showing her skin burned from her brother attack, and other injuries already healed. I took my hands to my mouth immediately really stopping a yell of rage, while she covered herself with a dressing grown. "I have no wand, he broke it when I attacked him once… I have no way to defend myself from him, Alastor… I'm learning wandless magic on my own… but really slowly… I could make a protector shield the last week… but it least just a few minutes and then he did me this…" she showed me a bruise on her belly "…two ribbons broken… Thomas asked Poppy to come because he knew she wouldn't tell anything…"

"Alright… I've listened enough… you're coming with me…" I said.

"No… I can't… trust me… I really can't… He has a charm around the castle… he used my blood for it… so I really can't leave from here without his permission…"

"Then I'll talk to him"

"And then go to Azkaban… My freedom doesn't worth yours, Alastor" she held my hand and stared my eyes "I'll be fine… say Dumbledore I'm not going to accept any other place than the transfiguration one, and I'll neither do it until he isn't able to teach it…"

"Don't ask me to leave you in this hell…"

"It's not as bad… Arnold is very nice with me… and… Oh! I know… why don't you ask Rolanda to teach flying? She wasn't as good as me, but good enough to teach some children…" she giggled and then kissed my lips softly "See you soon, Al"

"Really soon, my girl…" I kissed her back and left from there…

* * *

"YOU AND…?! Oh my…! You and Minerva were…"

"We had been a couple at the school… but it didn't work well enough to become somthing serious… but we connected really well so we never wanted to stop our relationship… We've always been good friends, nothing else…"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	9. 9 Understanding

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

Chapter nine: **Understanding**

Severus came back to the school and saw Rolanda Hoock leaving the hospital. They both looked at each other and without say anything she went upstairs while he followed the steps she'd left behind. After cross the corridor between the hospital beds and open Minerva's private room's door Severus met her dressed on her usual tartan robes and packing her things.

"Hi" said him shyly.

"Oh… you've decided to finally appeared by here…" said her harshly.

"I've been… busy… I'm happy to see you're better…"

"Poppy lets me come back to the tower…" she stopped, closed her suitcase and then continued "I guess you've been busy investigating my past… something I asked you to not do"

"I just wanted to know something else… but… everyone leaved me with more questions… I… I needed to know…"

"You needed to know nothing, Severus! You are nobody to know anything about my past…"

"But you… you allowed Moody to tell me…"

"I did… because obviously I prefer you to know what really happened before made your own conclusions…" said her going out the room carrying the suitcase.

"I still having questions…" said him running towards her, quickly taking the luggage from her hands. She didn't answered, just walked "What happened after Moody's visit at McGonagall's castle?" he left a while of silence, but there was not try from her to begin an answer, so he continued his questions "Did he told anybody to help you? What happened to your brother Thomas, was him punished for what he did to you? What happened to Arnold? What about Hogwarts… you finally accepted the job… why? Oh… and what happened during your sixth year… you didn't get married until the last one, so… why did you leave the school?"

"I never leaved it…" suddenly whispered her voice when they'd reached the Headmaster's tower.

"What do you mean?"

Minerva crossed the office and went upstairs without say any other word… Snape left the suitcase on the floor and sat on his desk trying to understand.

"Good night, Severus…" said professor Dumbledor's voice from his picture on the wall.

"I can't understand…"

"Do you still trying to know what people's trying to forget…?"

"She's said she never left the school… but she did… she suddenly disappeared and stop going to classes and exams…"

"Nobody can know better than anyone else which is the best truth about his own past, present and future…" told the old headmaster.

"You mean she's right…? she didn't leave, but nobody saw her for nearly a year…?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask her… Good night, Severus…"

"No… wait a while, Headmaster… I… Crap!" Dumbledore had already got asleep so Snape took the suitcase again and went upstairs.

He heart some sobs coming from the couch… Minerva was sat in front the fireplace crying.

"Minerva… are you alright?"

No answer.

"I'll… I'll ask Poppy to come, ok?"

"No! I'm… I'm fine… It's just…" she breathed trying to stop her crying "…your questions take back a lot of remembers to my mind and… I…"

Severus sat next to her and held her hand staring her precious eyes.

"Minerva… Instead our wedding will be a fake, we'll have to play as if it's real… I do want to do it well, I mean… I do want to grow up your son and take care of you the best I can… but when I met your father and I found out he was a… Lestrange… I understood that I really didn't know nothing about you… Don't misunderstand me… I knew you were a nice person, a wonderful woman and the best teacher this school could ever have but… I understood I didn't know nothing about your family or yourself… I didn't know which were your motivations, your worries, your fears… and I thought I would knew all this after know more about your past… but I guess I was wrong… I'm sorry… I didn't want to annoy or make you cry…"

"My mother's name was Angelica…" suddenly began to tell her "…Angelica Prewet… she was Molly Weasley's father's cousin… I don't know too much about her because she dead when I was born and my father never told me about her… I just know she was the second wife of my father who, as you've just learnt, is William Lestrange… with her third wife he had two other sons, Rodolphus and Rabastan… so as you can guess…"

"You are Bella's sister-in-law…!" exclaimed Severus.

"I am… I didn't went to Rodolphus and Bellatrix wedding… I never had any relation with my younger brothers… As you might already know, Thomas and I were twins but our relation wasn't really good… he was jealous because father used to be less sever with me because I was his only daughter… on the other hand, there was Leo… he was my older brother and the only one on my family who understood I was… different…" she stopped a while to breath and then continued "Deeply, I always wanted to teach in Hogwarts because it was between this walls that I discovered a world completely different from my family's house… but I've not just been a teacher in my life… About my worries and fears… I had no other family than Albus until now…" she caressed her belly "…so… until a few days ago my only worries were my students, and my only fear… Albus' death…"

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Severus not understanding her suddenly need of confession.

"'Cause I also want to do it well… we're going to be married and, instead it will be a fake, I can't take it as a game forever 'cause there will be a little life between us and I want things to be good for him or her… so I guess you're right when you say we're going to make this step being nearly stranger for each other…" she made an effort to not cry again and continued "We both should have the right to know the person who we are going to share our lives… don't we?"

"I grew up in… .. ." began Severus.

Time passed while Severus told Minerva about his childhood between the muggles and with his unlovely family, about his only love in life and the mistakes he regretted as many times… When he'd nearly finished it was nearly morning and he noticed Minerva had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Carefully he got free from her arms and covered her with a blanket…

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

A/N: Short, I know… but it will continued soon. I've not wanted to tell about Snape 'cause we already learnt a lot from his past in the books, so it's more difficult to imagine something else… .. . About Minerva, her story will continue (and maybe end) on the next chapter, but don't worry… I'll just finish to tell about her past, there's a lot to know about her new life with Severus!!

LOTS OF KISSES AND SEE YOU ON THE NEXT UPDATE!!!!


	10. 10 The wedding

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters but I do own the main plot of the ffic._

Chapter ten: **The wedding**

AFTER SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Minerva was standing at the top of the main stairs, waiting for the students that were begining at hogwarts that year. After everybody had reached her and she'd finished her usual welcoming speech, she took that young girls and boys to the dinning room. While she walked between the long tables of Griffindor and Revenclaw she thought on the empty places, the missing students, that young faces that hadn't came back…

Then she took the names' list and began to say, one at one, those new names, right when the voices' noise of the excited old students talking about their holidays became a few whispers accompanied by the full room's young eyes fixed on the new curve of her belly.

She'd already imagined that was going to happen, that was why she could manage to control herself not taking out her look from the paper while the new ones came to sit down and put the hat on their little heads. When everybody was sat down she sighted on relieve and walked to the teachers' table. On her way she crossed with the Headmaster, who was going to give his own speech to the school. He gazed at her and slight his hand craftily so their fingers touch met a while before she sat on her chair and he continued his way.

After the ceremony the prefects took the children to their respective houses and the teachers still there, at it was usual, talking about the summer and the classes that were coming ahead.

"Minerva you look wonderful, honey!" exclaimed Mrs. Trelawney caressing her shy belly.

"Thanks Sybill… I'm about three months so I hope people to think I've just put on weight… I wouldn't like an interrogatory of my older students at my classes…" they both laughed and then quiet at the same time when they heard some loud voices coming from the room next to their table.

"Excuse me…" said Minerva leaving her friend and walking to the door while the rest of colleagues walked away.

"We're just saying that we can't understand why she has introduced the new students to the school if she's not going to be the Deputy anymore!" exclaimed Amycus right when Minerva opened the door just enough to see that Carrow was showing his wand to Snape.

"I told you, she's done this every year since she's at Hogwarts and I don't want things to change from day to night… the students would suspect…" told Severus grabbing her wrist strongly enough to make his wand fell to the floor.

"Do you know what I think?" began his sister Alecto "I think your passion charm is beginning to get weak so your whore is not obeying you…" she laughed loud and Severus raised his wand to attack her.

"It won't be needed, Severus… I'm not offended…" said Minerva calmly "Can we go to our rooms?… I don't feel really well…" she stayed at the frame seeing how Severus kept his wand again.

"You should say thanks to my wife, Alecto, 'cause the next time you insult her I won't hesitate on killing you…"

He walked to the door and offered his arm to Minerva while they both left together.

"Do you really feel bad?" asked him right when they were out of the dinning room.

"I'm fine… I just didn't want more blood in this castle…" said her holding stronger his arm with her slim fingers.

"I just wanted to scare her… I… I'm sorry you had to listen to that…"

"It doesn't matter… I don't care what any Death Eater can call me…" they'd reached the office and Severus opened the door to let her go in first "Oh… I've been talking with Poppy… she asked me to do a new exam as soon as possible… She says we'll probably be able to know the baby's sex in this one!" she smiled.

"Really?!" he exclaimed following her while they climbed the stairs up to the apartment.

"Yeah… but I'm not really sure if I want to know it yet… I mean… wouldn't you like it to be a surprise?" asked her sitting down on the couch and charming a fire on the fireplace.

"Whatever you decide will be right for me…" said him taking her hand and leaving a soft kiss on it before sat down next to her.

On the wall of the little living room of the Headmaster's apartment there were some new pictures on the wall… one of them, the one in the middle, the biggest one, showed Severus and Minerva kissing each other at the top of a cliff in front the sea.

That had happened a couple months ago, just a few weeks after the end of the classes… .. .

. . .

Severus had told her to look for a nice dress for the wedding, so Minerva met Poppy and Rolanda at London and bought a long green dress of soft and nearly transparent cloth. Later, her own friends were the ones who did her hair, letting it fell on her shoulders… She looked thirty years younger and as pretty as the most beautiful princess of a fairytale. That was what Severus would think after see it.

So… when they come back to Hogsmade from London they found a little stone with a cat form, Poppy encouraged Minerva to take it and just a while later, she disappeared.

"Do you think she'll upset too much with us for this?" asked Poppy gazing the empty space between her and Ro.

"Well… the portkey and the rest of stuff was Severus idea, so… if she wanna blame somebody this must be him!"

She felt sick… suddenly dizzy… but after a while, she felt a wonderful relief, she felt embraced by a familiar air and a comfortable safety. When she opened her eyes Minerva found herself on the ground of a green field on a cliff, with her head on Severus lap and… she was sure she could listen to the sea.

"What… what had happened?" asked her.

"Let me tell you everything I have to tell you before say nothing, ok?" said him quickly just letting her enough time to nod before continue "I know we're supposed to get married on Saturday… well… we are, anyway… but I wanted this to be somehow more special for us than the dark and cold ceremony it's going to be, with just a lot of undesirable wizards and any friend…" Minerva was gazing the man in front of her as if he wasn't the professor Snape he knew at the school "I wanted to take you here, at the nicest seaside of Scotland, to ask you something…" he kneeled down while she sat on the ground, and held her hand taking out that ring, that felt to the ground and suddenly became a big frog that jumped away from them "Minerva McGonagall… I know what there's between us is not love, but it's neither hate… so… in order to let me take care of you and the baby you're carrying as if it was mine…" he made a move with his other hand and when he opened it again he was showing her a beautiful ruby in a white-gold ring "… do you marry me?"

Minerva knelt down in front of him while a lonely tear could escape from her wet eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked worried for her apparently sadness.

"I do…" she said sobbing and smiling at the same time.

"You do what?"

"I do marry you, Severus… I'll be really glad to have you next to me…"

They kept their looks at each other for a while, then he slide the ring on her hand and his fingers continued caressing her wrist, her arm, her shoulder, her neck… and suddenly his hand approached her face to his and their lips met in a shy kiss that became sweet, nice, lovely… and passionate… But that first taste of each other's mouth was interrupted by the clap of the little crowd of people that was suddenly rounding them… Poppy and Rolanda, Sybill and the full of staff of Hogwarts, Mrs. Longbottom… and a man dressed on white clothes that suddenly said: "I now pronounce you Severus and Minerva Snape…"

Later, celebrating that surprise wedding, everybody was dancing while an orchestra played a waltz… and Severus was looking for Minerva, who'd disappeared after the toast. He finally found her sat on the edge while the seaside became on red and yellow tones.

"What's wrong?" asked him sitting next to her trying to not look down the void.

"Nothing…" said her on a sight. He new she was lying, but said nothing and stood up to leave, but Minerva held his hand and pulled him down again.

"Don't leave… please…" begged her. Then she rested her head on his shoulder and they stayed like that until the first star of the night began to shine above their heads.

She felt fine with Severus, but she had the feeling she'd forgotten about Dumbledore…

It had been him who asked them to get married, but this time she'd accepted Severus' propose and… she knew, she felt inside, this one was something stronger than Albus' crazy plan, something with a deeper meaning.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	11. 11 Fear

_Disclaimer: See on the previous part._

**Chapter eleven: Fear**

Her first class was with the first-year-students, but for the first time on her full career in Hogwarts she wasn't able to receive them on her animagus form, something she loved because it surprised everybody. Fortunately that pupils had never seen her before, so there were no questions and no odd looks, just a peacefully class.

Later she was able to welcome more familiar faces from her last-year-gryffindors, but also to count more empty places… It was weird for her to began the class without make a glance to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley to make them shut up… Later she missed the raised hand of Mrs. Granger, always knowing the answers of the questions she hadn't made yet… That would be a really strange year…

"Professor McGonagall?" asked Longbottom suddenly, making her realize that she'd been quiet for a long while in the middle of the class.

"I'm sorry" apologized her "Please, let's continue with the class…"

"Are you sure you're fine, professor?" asked Parvati Patil looking at her pale face.

"I… No…" she took her hands to her mouth and quickly left the class and run to the nearest bathrooms. When she came back everybody had left the class except one "I'm glad to see you've waited until I've come back, Mr. Longbottom, but I guess the class has already finished…"

"Professor I…" began him with her usual indecision "…I know you're expecting" said that boy with a man's voice.

"Oh… Do you?"

"My grandmother told me and asked me to give this to you…" he gave a packet to Minerva and continued talking "It's a present, a dress or something like that she made for the baby…"

"Thank you… I'll write some lines to Augusta tonight to thank her…" she smiled and the boy did too, but didn't move "Is there anything else, Mr. Longbottom?"

"I… Actually I…" that usual indecision again troubling his tongue. Finally he breathed hard and let the words leave on its own "I would like to offer you any help you need on your classes…"

"That's really… nice… Mr. Longbottom… but I can manage instead the pregnancy…"

"I know… it's my grandma who wanted me to… She says you began teaching helping Professor Dumbledore on his classes…"

"That's true…" said her while her eyes got wet and some remembers came to her mind "but I'm sure you would feel more comfortable helping on herbology… I'll talk personally to Mrs. Sprout and I'll tell you what we've decided, ok?"

"Really? Would you?!" exclaimed Neville showing his enthusiasm.

"I'm the head of your house, it's my job to help my students to find the way to their future…" said her with solemnity and then smiling "Now, you should leave and enjoy this wonderful day…" she turned round and looked the sun shinning on the fields while Neville went out leaving the door opened.

* * *

"_Excuse me… have you seen Mrs. Lestrange around?" asked a long-blonde-haired man to a young Hufflepuff who was carrying a broom._

"_If you mean Mina, Headmaster, actually she's on your back" the student giggled and left leaving them alone in the corridor._

"_Were you looking for me, professor Dumbledore?" asked the young black-haired witch not able to stare that blue eyes that were glancing her._

"_I was… I wondered if you would be interested on help me with my youngest classes this year…"_

"_Oh… I…"_

"_All teachers have someone from the last year, but when Dippet asked me who I would choose I couldn't imagine other name than yours, Mrs. Lestrange… So…" he held her chin and put her face up "What do you answer, Minerva?"_

_She blushed and put her look down as he'd used her name and was touching her… while she though on that wonderful offer._

"_I'm not sure…"_

"_My next class is this afternoon, at for o'clock, with the second-year-students …" told him staring directly her shiny green sapphires "I know you haven't any class at that time so… I'll be very glad to see you there…"_

* * *

A knock on the door took Minerva back to the present. She quickly turned round, noticed the door closed and a non welcomed presence.

"I wondered how were going your classes…" said Amycus Carrow.

"They are going as well as always, and if there's anything else, I'll ask you to leave…" said her harshly and looking for her wand in her pocket.

"Are you looking for this?" asked him showing her wand on his hand "You shouldn't leave it on the desk… anyone could take it…"

"You should leave" insisted her "…and I'll politely ask you to please leave my wand on the desk…"

"Actually there's something else…" he whispered something, she didn't listen what, but she would swear it was an spell… Suddenly she felt aroused, as if an invisible hand had slide under her skirts and was playing with its fingers in that place where only Albus had been allowed to be… She wasn't sure if it was Amycus who was doing that or not, but she couldn't either stop that embarrassing feeling "Severus showed us a wonderful remember about you… I wonder if you are as horny as you seemed with him…" he rose his wand, Minerva was going to yell, but he made a charm and all her clothes felt to the floor, but before he could make a glance to her naked body she quickly transfigured herself and a cat jumped to his face scratching his skin. Carrow screamed and then pointed the tabby cat with his wand "I'll kill you, whore!" shouted with rage right when the door was opened.

"Expeliarmus!" shouted professor Snape from the door. The two wands Amycus was carrying felt to the floor.

"Severus! I'm sorry… it isn't what you think… I was just…" tried to explain professor Carrow.

Severus prepared himself to attack again but the cat jumped to his arms and stopped him.

"You should leave now, Amycus…" said Severus calmer and caressing the tabby on his hands "…and keep yourself away from my wife…"

When Carrow had already left Severus closed the door and left the cat on one of the desks… Minerva came back to her human form quickly crossing her legs and covering her breasts with her hands. Severus wasn't expecting to see her like that, actually that was the first time his eyes met her nude body, and he found himself not able to take his look away from her perfect curves.

"Severus!" shouted Minerva for the third time until he came back to himself "Can you please reach me my wand?" she looked to the floor and he followed her eyes founding her wand, taking it, and leaving it on her hand. All without let a word go out from his mouth "Thanks" said her while her clothes appeared again on her skin.

"Will you tell me what's happened?" asked him when she was already dressed.

"Nothing you should be worried of…" said her standing up.

"Let's go with Poppy…" ordered him grabbing her wrist.

"No! I'm fine… Nothing has happened in here!" shouted her.

"You're not… You know you shouldn't be on your animagus form during the pregnancy… The best will be that Poppy examines you…" he held her wrist and pulled her to make her move, but she stayed still.

"Severus, I'm fine, ok!" suddenly shouted her louder than before and scaring him.

"I'm sorry…" this time he just sat down on the desk inviting her to sit next to him "I shouldn't have invented I did the passion charm on you… Now the worst wizards of the magic world will see you as a kind of… toy"

"It wasn't your fault, Severus…" she sat next to him and caressed his cheek trying to comfort his worry "Nothing has happened thanks to you that have appeared on time…"

"I wouldn't if Longbottom hadn't advised he'd seen Carrow closing your class door after go in…"

"Alright… then I'll thank him too… but it's you who's disarmed him… Trust me when I say you'll be my hero, Severus…"

"I'm not that… I should have come before he began to annoy you… I'm a foolish wizard not able to protect you even in the most safety place of this world…" he was going to stand up and leave, but she stopped him.

"Severus… let me tell you something…"

* * *

_I began to help Albus with his youngest classes the first weeks of my sixth year. He used to say I was better than him so he usually asked me to do the class on my own when he had a meeting or some work… It was easy with the younger groups, but with my classmates or the seventh-year-old classes it was impossible…_

_They couldn't stand that a younger girl could be teaching them, but Albus on me…_

_One day, after a lesson, two slitherins stayed in the classroom when everybody had left._

"_Can I help you?" I asked._

"_Sure… we would love if you help us with some biology works… Fake Lestrange…"_

_I took out my wand, but I could even use it… I suddenly found myself wandless and naked. I wasn't able to move, I can't say if they'd charmed me or I was too much scared to react… I tried to scream, but it was as if I'd lost my voice…_

TO BE CONTINUED…


	12. 12 Minerva's sixth year at Hogwarts

Chapter 12: **Minerva's sixth year at Hogwarts**

Minerva waited until their laughs became a whisper to dressher self and left the classroom. They advised her to not tell anybody if she didn't want to be seen as the Hogwarts whore, and she neither want anybody to know what had happened. She felt dirty, used and abused…

She crossed the empty corridors of the night and went into the praefector's bathroom, and quickly submerged herself into the hot water of the swimming pool… For a while she tried to stay under there and not come out again, but she needed to breath… She really forced herself to stay under the water, but something pushed her up making her understand she should have to learn leaving with that remember on her mind.

When she went into the tower everybody was on bed… She felt asleep quickly, but nightmares didn't let her to rest.

On the morning, the first thing she did was visit professor Dumbledore on his office and say him she was going to stop helping him on his classes.

"Why? Has anything happened to make you leave it?" asked him worried.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed later realizing she'd said that too loudly "I just have too much work and can't keep on doing everything…" lied her calmer and ready to leave the office.

During the next weeks Minerva tried to avoid any friend or teacher… she was afraid they could notice something different on her and ask, making her lie, what she hated.

"Hey you!" shouted Hoock from the other side of the corridor when Minerva went out her potions class. "What's the matter with you?" asked her friend grabbing her arm to stop her "Why are you ignoring us?"

Minerva filled with tears and run away… She felt fear, and rage… Somehow she suddenly found herself at the top of the clock tower and instinctively looked down…

Just a jump and everything would finished…

Just a step and she wouldn't have to look at herself in the mirror again…

She breathed hard, grabbed the railing hard and stood on her tiptoes while her hair danced with the wind.

* * *

He'd been keeping an eye on her since she suddenly told him she was stopping helping on his classes… He couldn't understand why she did that 'cause he knew she was enjoying teaching the youngers and he was sure she could manage all her work because she was his best student.

He'd seen her running away from her own friends, and not really knowing why, he followed her.

"I also like the sight from here… it's nice, isn't it?" said him interrupting the cold silence on the top of the clock tower right when Minerva rose a few fingers one of her foot.

She quickly turned round and gazed him with a mix of fear and embarassment on her eyes.

"Professor!" exclaimed.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want to frightened you…" Actually that was what he wanted, because something was bothering that little clever mind and he want that to make her do any madness "Are you ok, Mrs. Lestrange?"

"I am" said her making a big effort to avoid his look.

"I would love you to share whatever is bothering your mind, Minerva…"

He didn't use to call his students by their first name, but with her… with Minerva Lestrange, was something he couldn't control sometimes… And he was sure she could notice when that letters left his lips they did with a different tone… with some special affection he never showed to anyone.

"I'm sorry, I should leave…" finally said her running away from him as she'd done begore with Ro.

* * *

There was a quid ditch match in Hogwarts: Hufflepuff against Slitherin. Minerva didn't want to go, but she'd never lost a game when Rolanda played, so she made the effort and left the books for a morning.

From her sit she could see the green-and-silver-dressed boys and girls, knowing they would be there, among all that little heads, smiling as if they'd never hurted anyone.

Instead it was the end of novemeber, the sun was shinning as if it was summer… Minerva began to feel hot, and sick… everything seemed to be turning around her… Poppy asked her if she was right, but before she could answer with a lie, she fainted.

* * *

"PREGNANT?!" Albus Dumbledore's voice echoed in the big room of the hospital.

"Yes, Albus… she's nearly two months pregnant" told the nurse.

"How can it be possible?!" exclaimed taking his hands to her head on desperation and letting his body fall in the first chair he found "…pregnant…" he repeated.

"You already know how teenagers can be, Albus… she's not the first girl that found out a pregnancy before end the school…"

"She's not like any teenager!" he shouted "She's my best student…" obviously that words hided a deeper feeling… He encouraged himself, stood up, and walked to the room she was.

* * *

"Professor?!" she frightened and tried to dry her wet eyes and cheeks with the bed's sheets.

"Is this the reason of your weird behaviour?" asked him maybe too harshly "Did you stopped helping me because you found out you were pregnant?!" He didn't want to sound like that, but he was upset, not with her, but with the situation… He couldn't believe the girl he'd considered the most clever, the most responsible, the most beautiful, had let anyone to get her pregnant that easy "Answer, please!"

"NO!" she exploded "It wasn't this… I didn't know it!" she broke down and began to cry again. He stayed shocked at the door… somewhy he'd wished to listen it was the reason, because that would explain everything and they could find a solution… but now he was shocked… if she didn't knew about the pregnancy until then… He really didn't want to think on the real reason…

"Then tell me, Minerva… What happened?" asked him kindlier and approaching to her. She just shook her head "Please…" he begged.

"I can't…" Her eyes were imploring him to stop asking.

"Minerva, did you had any boyfriend…? Someone from the summer? Maybe that Moody…?"

"No! Moody would never…" she bit her lips stopping the words that were coming "He's a good friend…"

"So? Minerva, please… I want to help you…" involuntarily his hand caressed hers.

"I'm fine, professor…" said her trying to not sound unkind.

"Alright…" and he stood up and walked to the door "…you can tell me whenever you feel ready to"

"Are you leaving?" wondered her raising her look to him.

"The headmaster should know about the situation… and I guess your father too…"

"Don't leave, please!" she exclaimed. And he stopped not facing her yet "It happened seventh weeks and five days ago, after one of the classes I tough to the older groups…"

"WHAT happened?!" exclaimed him turning round to her afraid of the words she hadn't said yet.

"Two boys stayed after the lesson… I got frightened, they were rough… I tried to defened myself… I promise I did!" she remarked that while bit tears felt down her cheeks "…but it was useless…"

"Oh, sweetheart!" he round the trembling girl with his comfortable embrace and she cried on his chest.

"I'm sorry…" she said sobbing.

"You needn't…" whispered him leaving a kiss on her forehead "…you needn't…" he repeated while his rage increased thinking on what that boys could have done to his pretty girl "Who were them?"

"Two slitherins" said her.

"Can you tell me their names?"

"One of them was Goyle… He failed the exam… I don't remember the other's name…" she hadn't end the sentence that Dumbledore was already closing the door.

"Albus, were are you going?" asked the nurse when the professor left the hospital running. But he didn't answer, he was concentrated on that name… Goyle…

* * *

When he'd reached the dangeons of the Slitherin house he began to search a face… black haired, big nose… "YOU!" shouted when he finally found him.

"Is anything wrong, professor Dumbledore?" asked the boy smiling.

"How you dare to ask?! Of course there's something wrong, YOU! You and what you've done to my sweetie pie!" he didn't hesitate, just took out his wand and attacked.

* * *

"Albus Dumbledore, can you explain me what was on your mind?" asked headmaster Dippet when came into the dangeons after the Head of the Slitherin house had called him. All the students had been asked to leave, so there were just them three and the hurt student.

"He and a friend dared to dishonored one of my pupils!" said Albus with rage still on his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"He raped Minerva Lestrange!!!" shouted "She's now in the hospital… two months pregnant, so I have a prove!"

"Oh my Godness!" exclaimed Dippet… "Alright… Albus, please… wait me in my office, professor, you should take your Mr. Goyle to the hospital" The head of Slitherine obeyed and Dippet followed Albus.

* * *

"I know what he's done is horrible, Albus… but this doesn't give you the right of killing him" began to say Dippet closing the door of his office.

"I haven't"

"I know you haven't… but what would have happened if nobody had stopped you…"

"He deserve to die!" shouted the teacher "He's hurt my…" Then he silenced himself.

"Your what?"

"My favorite student…" he breathed hard and calmed himself "Armando… She's clever, intelligent, she's better than me on transfiguration, she the most delicate flower you could find in the school… How could anybody dare to spoil her in such a horrible way?" this times his rage disappear and some tears filled his blue eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	13. 13 It can just be LOVE

Disclaimer: See on some of the past chapters.

A/N: After thank EVERYBODY to their reviews, let me advice that this episode contents specific ADULT DESCRIPTIONS, so if you don't want to read them, jump that part… .. . Kisses for everyone who loves this fanfic and thanks, because without you I would have left it chapters ago XD!!!

* * *

Chapter thirteen: **It could just be LOVE**

Albus was looking through the crystal in the private room how Minerva cried on her father's embrace. Then Mr. Lestrange stood up and left the room.

"I hope you've gived what they deserve to the bastards who did this to my daughter…" said him.

"Professor Dumbledore almost killed one…" told Dippet suddenly appearing with the nurse behind him and quickly offering his hand to the man "… right now both of them are in the Ministry waiting for the judgement…"

"Great… in this case I'll made sure both of them end in Azkaban…" then he took his jacket from a chair and stepped to leave.

"Mr. Lestrange I would need your consent before proceed to interrupt the pregnancy…" said the nurs giving him a paper and a quill.

"What?!" he stepped back and looked everybody in the room "My daughter's not going to abort…"

"But…" the woman hesitated.

"…she's been raped…" helped Dippet. Albus just stood not saying anything.

"Anyway that baby will be my first grandson, so the inherit of my fortune… If my daughter's not a trouble for you, I'll spend the next months on looking for a good husband for her…"

"Is this why you want her to keep the child?" finally spoke Albus "To make sure she'll marry the man you select for her… let me guess… some slitherin coming from a rich family but stupid enough to believe the baby is his?"

"I'm not gonna let a simple teacher talk me like that!" exclaimed Mr. Lestrange taking out his wand. But Albus was faster and the man quickly felt to the floor.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lestrange… I myself will make sure your daughter has the best accomodations during the next months, but somebody should teach you you'll not be able to control her life forever!"

"I'm not going to report this because Mr. Dippet told me what you did for my daughter… but you should be carefully with your acts, Mr. Dumbledore" then Mr. Lestrange left the room.

* * *

"Have you become crazy?!" asked Dippet staring at Dumbledore.

"He can't obligate her to give birth the son of a bastard who raped her!" exclaimed Dumbledore annoyed.

"Actually he can't, Albus… she has no right to decide until be overage…"

"This is not fair…" said him sitting down.

"We can't have a pregnant girl in the school… everybody will ask… I don't want a chaos because of this…" said Dippet sitting down to.

"…but a pregnancy is not as easy to hide…" commented the nurse "…and I'm sure she neither want anybody to know what's happened to her…"

"There's a way…" whispered Albus.

"What do you suggest?""We could hide her in my rooms… I have an extra bedroom and teachers could give her private lessons in there…"

* * *

_There's where I spent my sixth year in the school… hided in Albus' private rooms for nearly six months as if the criminal had been me… Anyway those are the most happier ones I remember of my teens… I reached the level of the before easter, I was a good sudent and Albus spent with me each of his free hours helping with spells and homework… Everynight we played chess in front the fire and then sat on the couch and read some book… He used to read detective novels and I some romantic stories before bed… usually I felt asleep with my head on his shoulder or his lap and I woke up in my bed in the morning, so I knew he'd carried me to my room. _

_We'd breakfast together every morning, as he said nobody would notice if he wasn't in the dinning room at that time… and when I was at my last months of pregnancy he used to take the breakfast to my room saying I shouldn't get up._

_Not every day, but really often, at night, when it was dark enough to not be seen, he took me out and we walked around the lake… He let me hold his arm and he held my hand sweetly…_

_But we never involved our selfs in anything else than a hug or a kiss from his lips to my forehead… He was my teacher, I was his student, and professor Dippet always kept an eye on us in order to make sure that our relationship never went farer than what it was supposed to be. I'm sure he knew - or imagined - Albus feelings for me… and it was easy to guess that me, as the young girl he'd saved, wouldn't be able to resist to him… But I loved my teacher from longer ago, since the first night in the castle when he defended myself in front the rest of students who were calling me names… Any way, instead we never crossed the line during those months, I shared with Albus what I would never share with anyone… my feelings, my heart… myself… And he did too… I know… I was his, and he was mine on spirit, and that's the reson why the day I gave birth a little body with green eyes and brown hair that didn't breath he cried as much or more than me… He told me later, and I blame myself because it could never come true, he dreamed with run away together and marry me in order to give me the freelance my father was trying to take. _

_The day after the baby born my father came to take me home… _

* * *

Severus was leaning on the teacher's desk facing the blackboard when he felt her delicate fingers on his shoulder. He rose his hand and caressed them softly, then he turned round, still holding her hand on his, and met a smile… a beautiful smile on that face that suddenly seemed younger on his wed eyes.

"Are you crying?" she asked.

"No!" he exclaimed quickly drying those tears that were going to fell down.

"I'm not going to tell anybody… don't worry…" said her still smiling "Can we go to our rooms now?"

"Sure" he said standing up "… of course…" he offered his arm to her and they walked together by the long corridors of the school "Dumbledore never mentioned anything…" said him suddenly.

"It's something we've always kept, not as a secret, but yes as something that shouldn't be told… It just happened somewhen in the past and not telling was a way to belive I had forgotten it…"

"But you've told it as if it was something recent…"

"That's because is something I remember every day… and today better than any other…"

"I'm sorry…" said him opening the door for her.

"One more time… you have nothing to be sorry for…"

"No, I have… I'm feeling really bad 'cause I… I've raped you too… instead it has only been in an imagined story for Voldemort… I've done it not thinking it could… hurt you…"

"Dear… you haven't… you haven't hurt me…"

Suddenly she found herself holding his chin, and her feet stood on her tiptoes not obeying any order she remembered to have told them, and her lips approached to his magnetically, and they met each other in a mix of flavours and feelings.

He instinctively gave the kiss back, and she closed her eyes not sure of what she wanted to do, and when he opened them he was still kissing her and his hands were on her waist elevating her body to his level.

What had began as a sweet kiss had became a show of love and pation… Minerva's feet were feeling the floor undet them again, but now Severus fingers had a more difficult task trying to undo her dress.

Her hands were faster undoing his tunic, surely because she had more experience… While their clothes were covering the corridor of the little apartment above the headmaster's office, Severus and Minerva seemed to be dancing to the room, moving their steps from one wall to the other until they reached the closed door.

Not cutting the kiss, Severus opened it and they quickly felt on the sheets. He was on top, sat astride on her and began to draw a line from her mouth to the lips she hided between thouse long and white legs… She tasted sweet down there… They hands were joined while his tongue played in a place she'd been keeping for years just for one man… When it seemed wet enough he released one hand and took his fingers to that private place… first one, then two… when the third finger came in Minerva began to move while her moaning became lauder. Then he took his fingers out and licked them tasting the flavor of the most sweet thing he'd ever had on his hands… Then he sat astride on her again, and caressed her hair staring those shiny sapphires… He couldn't believe she was really letting him loving her… He kissed her… her lips, her neck, her bick and soft breasts… and then again her lips before introduce his hard manhood into her body… That was an awesome moment, both moaned in time, and then both moved in time with their hands joined again and their lips tasting each others as the first time.

Non of them would be able to tell how many time they spent in that dance of love… but when they finished, they did it on the same time, with their hands still together and their lips still sharing the flavor of their feelings… .. .

TO BE CONTINUED…


	14. 14 Marriage and love

**Chapter fourteen: Marriage and love**

Minerva stood in front that old door and waited until someone opened it carefully.

"Mina, honey, do you know what time is it?!" Poppy Pomfrey exclaimed in a whisper letting her friend step in "Is anything wrong with the baby?"

"No… I feel fine…" she answered sitting down her friend's bed "Pop, I've… I've done something horrible!"

"What do you mean?"

"I've… I've lied down with Severus…" whispered Minerva as quietly that her friends could hardly listen to her "…in the same room I conceived my baby with Albus…" it was then when Minerva broke down and began to cry desperately.

"You mean you two hadn't… yet?" her silence said more than her words.

"You thought I had already bedded him?!" exclaimed Minerva gazing her friends with wildly opened eyes.

"Well… Ro was sure you did… I mean… when you accepted to marry him in the scotish fields we were sure you were signing a real marriage with him…"

"No… well… yes… but not a one with sex interaction involved…"

"Minerva… it has happened three months since that day, and you're really telling me that he'd never…"

"No… he'd never touched me… not for more than a hug or a little kiss… until tonight…"

"And was it allowed or did he made a pass at you?"

"Of course he didn't! He'd been a gentlemen for these last months… and he did still being tonight…"

"So you liked it?" asked the nurse this time paying a more friendly interest.

"I loved it… it was amazing! He's…" suddenly Minerva smiled and gazed her friend "…he's a wonderful lover, Pops…"

"Then why have you come here blaming yourself, Min? I'm sure it has happened 'cause you both wanted it, and in this case you can't feel any kind of guilt…" Minerva was going to reply but her friend stop there "You should come back to your rooms, and look at the man who's sleeping on your bed… look at him not like the professor we all know, not like Snape the known DeathEater in the dark side… but like Severus, the man who married you because you were in danger, who's accepted to grow up your baby with you, who's made you feel as good tonight under your sheets…" she held her friend's hands and then continued "Then, just then, you have to decide if you want to stay the rest of the night in that bed, or you preffer to sleep in the other room…"

Poppy was right, she couldn't feel guilty… Albus was dead… She hadn't talked with his portrait since weeks ago, what meant she'd finally accepted he'd gone… Maybe that was the reason why she'd done it that night, because somehow she felt herself free enough to love someone else…

* * *

Severus opened his eyes in the middle of the night and felt the bed empty… She'd left… or maybe she'd never been there and he'd just dreamed one more time how would it be to have her on his arms… No… he was sure it had happened… he could still feeling the touch of her skin on his hands, the smell of her hair on his nose and the taste of her mouth on his lips… So she'd left… she'd woke up in the middle of the night and had left the room… why? He wondered if she would come back or if that night would just become a remember… He closed his eyes, hoping to found her back when he'd open them again, when a light suddenly appeared on the wall… someone had opened the door, and some steps were coming to the bed… it was her, it could just be her…

* * *

Minerva felt a hand embracing her belly when the sun appeared behind the window of the room. She smiled and caressed those big fingers on her skin.

"Good morning" she said.

"Good morning" he answered kissing her neck sweetly "Have you spent a good night?"

"The best in a long time…" she said facing him and letting his lips to be her first taste in the morning "It would be lovely to stay here the full day…" said her dreamly.

"Let's do it" agreeded him.

"What?!"

"I'm the headmaster and you're my wife… let's stay in this room the full day and celebrate what a lovely day is today" he made a quick and smart movement under the sheets and stood on all fours over her.

"Are you kidding? I can't leave my classes as easily!" exclaimed her giggling and looking at the eyes that were gazing her.

"Of course you can…" said him kissing her neck softly licking the skin under her ears "You can do whatever you wish…" his lips slided to her mouth drawing a line between the two points "…and we can find a substitute for your classes… Alecto herself is good enough in transfiguration to do your classes…" added him after kiss her.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not gonna let that… which… to teach my students!" exclaimed Minerva scaping from his hands and legs with the ability of a cat.

"Don't get upset…" said him playfully, trying to grab her wrist.

"I'm not…" said her taking off her nightdress "…but it's late…"

"I guess we're not going to stay…"

"You can do what you please… I'm going to my classes"

"Alright… but I'll not be here tonight…" he stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked her watching at his nacked body on the mirror.

"I have to… leave…" said him gazing the look of her reflex.

"You're meeting Voldermort…" helped her to him.

"Yes… Amycus and Alecto are coming too…" said him rounding her waist with his arms from her back "…so you'll be fine…" then he placed a kiss on her nacked back and helped her nightdress to slide down. He contemplated her curves as if she was the masterpiece of a greek sculptor… he'd seen her on his imagination when he made that false remember of him raping her, but she was nicer on his hands… he'd met her nude skin on the classroom the afternoon before, but he hadn't been able to see as much… he'd touched her body during the full night while they loved each other on her bed, but he hadn't notice what he was at that moment… She was amazingly beautiful… He wasn't sure of how old she was, he just knew she was pretty younger than Albus… but at that moment, at that same instant he was caressing her curves, tasting her skin and gazing the siluet she reflected on the mirror… she looked as a young siren or, as her name said, like non other than Afrodita's sister.

For a while Severus wondered how a woman like that could have loved him in such a way, and then he remembered the circumstanced that had taken them to their marriage.

"Severus, is anything wrong?" asked Minerva noticing his face had changed.

"What's happened tonight… is it just because we're married…?" asked him in a serious tone.

"Dear… I asked myself the same question tonight… but… I once did what we've done just because I was told it was my duty as a wife and, trust me, it doesn't feel like this…" she smiled but her look became sad and she quickly moved away from the mirror and hided her tears.

"Minerva I know about your marriage with Arnold McGonagall… Moody told me what your brother Thomas did to you while you were in that castle…" there was a silence while he approached to her and embraced her waist again, placing his chin on her shoulder "Don't cry" whispered on her ear.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I know, it's not a really interesting chapter, but I had to stop it here because on the next one Minerva will tell Severus about her marriage, what a hell it was with her brother in the house, and how she was able to scape.


	15. 15 Tears from the past

Chapter fifteen: **Tears from the past**

_When I saw my father at the station train that Chirstmas I understood something was wrong… He never came to take us, he used to be too much busy for that holidays so we spent it the brothers together with our servants and noone else. He hugged me sweetly, and the took my luggage to the car while Thomas and him talked about the school. At home there was Leonard waiting for us. I was very happy to meet him, so I run to his arms. Leo had always been my guardian angel, he wanted to protect me from everything, specially from our own family… I think that's why he whispered an apology on my ear that day… .. ._

* * *

"I'm sorry, Sis…"

"What?" Minerva didn't understand… Leonard left her on the floor and turned her round. There was a man on a wheelchair, about ten or twenty years older than her, in the middle of the hall.

"Hello my darling" said him, and Minerva froze.

"Who's…?"

"Minerva, honey, this is Mr. McGonagall… your future husband…" told her father.

"WHAT?!" she wasn't sure of what she was supposed to do… she felt a mix of rage and a lot of tears coming out "You can't do this to me!" began to yell "You… you said I needn't get married after abort that baby!"

"I know… but that was last year, honey… now you're gonna be overage soon, and I want you to have a wellknown name for then…"

"What you want is nobody to know your dauther never was a Slitherin… Are you gonna rub me out the familiar tree like everybody knows Mr. Black did with his son?"

"Of course I'm not! I just want you to marry the good man you deserve as my daughter…"

"I… I HATE YOU!" shouted her before run into her room.

"Let me talk to her father…" said Leonard following her.

"I said you I couldn't understand how you can insist on loving her, father… she doesn't thanks you efforts…" commented Thomas while the three man in the hall went to the living room.

. . .

"Minerva… let me go in… it's me…" asked Leo from the corridor.

"I don't care! You knew this! Leave me alone!" her sobs were listened from the other side of the door "Mina, I can't do nothing… you have to obey father until you're overe age… this is the law…"

"Yeah… and now I'm gonna have a husband to obey after that happens!" said her in a low voice.

* * *

_I could do anything else than cry for the next days… I didn't leave my room, and I didn't let nobody to came in… I just lied on my bed and let tears came out. The 27th__ of December people began to come to the house, and one of the servants took me a long white dress I destroyed with a quick move of my wand._

_My father got really angry, but replaced the dress and made sure I went downstairs and said what I had to say in the ceremony… There were flowers, music, a delicious food, and surely very sweet deserts… but after say the word that was gonna condemn me I went back to my room and to cry again while everybody was having fun. After close the door, someone knocked it._

* * *

"I'm not coming back to that fake party, so leave me alone!"

Nobody answered, Minerva supposed it had been her brother, so she went to the bathroom and took that dress out from her. Dressed with pijama she came back to the room and found the door opened.

"Who's there?" asked her trying to not seem frightened but taking her wand while she closed the door again "Who's in here?"

"You're not gonna need this with me…" said a familiar voice when the wand suddenly disappeared from Minerva's hand.

"Who are you?"

"C'mon, don't you recognize you friends?" she felt two hands on her waist, she liked that touch…

"Alastor…" she moaned smiling and closing her eyes.

"Right!" and then he appeared on her back picking her neck.

"You scared me! What are you doing in here?"

"I am a guest in the wedding… but suddenly I could just see you for a short while…"

"I didn't want to stay there…"

"Minerva, why don't you come with me? I would love to take care of you…" he caressed her chin and took her hand leaving a kiss on it "You don't have to continue with this fake of a wedding… and you'll be free with me…"

"I can't… I want to finish my studies, Al… I'll be in my legan age on summer… then I'll run away from… this…"

* * *

_But this weren't that easy. When I came back to the school everybody had learnt about my wedding in the newspapers… My friends were mad with me because I hadn't told them… and Albus ignored me for days, weeks I'd bet, until I went to his office one night._

* * *

"Can I help you, Mrs. Lestrange? Or maybe you prefer Mrs. McGonagall?" said him harshly.

"I don't care what you call me… I'm any of those women, professor…" she stepped back to leave, not sure of what had really taken her to his office, but he stopped her.

"Wait Minerva, I'm sorry… it's just that I… I thought you were confidence enough to tell me you were planning a wedding…"

"I was not! My father organized everything… he wanted to fix me before I'll be over age… I could do nothing… I wasn't going to run out, they would have find me easily… now I'm married to a man fifteen years older than me who I've just seen once in my life…" she broke down and began to cry. He hugged her and she felt better on his embrace.

"Don't cry… what if we play a chess game like we used to before this odd holidays while you tell me what happened…"

She nodded and they talked for the full afternoon.

"You could began to teach in the school after finish this year… you're wonderful on any subject, but specially on mine"

"I'm not gonna replace you!"

"But we'll be able to stay away from that man if you teach in Hogwarts… and…"

_We'll be close _were the words he wasn't able to say.

"No… I'll never take your class while you still able to teach it…" declared her "I'll run away after finish my exams on june…"

"You know there's a law that allows your husband to report you if you run away, don't you?"

"I do… but I don't care…"

"But if you leave…" he stopped his words, he hesitated on continue talking, and she did first.

"I'll come back when everybody has forgotten about me…"

"Not everybody will be able to take you out from their minds, Minerva… trust me…"

* * *

_We continued our chess games for the rest of year, but he was the headmaster and I still a student, so we kept the distances between us. I past my exams and I didn't take the Express back to London… I hide myself in Hogsmade… the problem was my brother followed me, so my father and my… husband… found me that same day. _

_My dream of run away was shorter than I though, I was take to the Scotish castle owned by the McGonagalls and there I was gonna spent the rest my life…_

_I have to admit Arnold was a sweet man… maybe if I hadn't been obligated to marry him I would have loved him, but I couldn't… every time I looked at him I could just think it was my father's will… so I hated that man until he becames repulsive for me._

_My brothers came to live with us because my father didn't trust on me… He really shouldn't… Leonard was wonderful, every night drying my tears, but Thomas… he loved seeing finally obeying father's will… he took advantage of the situation and I became his servant… the first time I tried to defend myself after Leo had left with his new wife, he broke my wand, so I couldn't use magic anymore…_

_Then there was a time when I obeyed every order without reply… I think I'd lost my hopeness and my strengh to fight… until the day he asked something I wasn't going to do…_

* * *

"You've become crazy, Thomas! I'm gonna tell Arnold!" yelled Minerva running out the room.

"You're not!" shouted him pointing her with his wand and thaking her back into the library, where they were, and closing the double door.

"I'm not going to do that, you're insane!"

"Maybe I am… but father allowed me to do whatever I thought it was necessary to teach you… so let me teach some new ways to please your husband…"

"No, no way!" she grabbed the desk while some kind of force pulled her towards him "Stop!" begged her "Stop it!" she yelled… and suddenly she listened a noise and it stopped. She turned back, Thomas had felt down…

"Fucking bitch! You're not allowed to do wandless magic!" he shouted, but she had time to run way from there.

* * *

_I asked Arnold if I could take some books from his library, he obviously allowed me, and I began to learn wandless magic on my own… I wanted to control that power I had… it was hard, but I got it soon… the problem was it never was enough to run away from Thomas, just to fight him, to make him know how much I was hating him…_

_Thomas allowed Poppy to come to the castle… but just her… I think he liked her, and by the way he knew Rolanda would encorage me to run away. Time passed, and one day I found an old book in the library about animagus art… That was wonderful, if I only could be another living being for enough time to cross the spell that rounded the castle then I would be free! It didn't took me too much weeks to transform my full body into a cat, but it was harder to stay in that form for a long time, not because I couldn't, just because my brother came to my room at every time to ask any stupid thing… Everytime I listened the door I jumped under the bed and get back to my human form… He never suspect, neither the they that Alastor came to visit me._

_I have to admid I would love to accept Albus proposition, but Thomas wouldn't have let me go there… _

_Months later, I run away… My plan was good… I could cross the invisible wall and I went to Poppy's house in London… She couldn't believe what I did, and she quickly called Rolanda. I hadn't seen her for five years, she was changed, and she was a teacher now… I was glad Albus had followed my suggestion… _

_Two days later my father appeared there…_

* * *

_

* * *

_

"I can't believe what you've done, Minerva! I though you were a mature woman, now.."

"But father…"

"Don't talk! You've disobeyed everybody… specially your husband…"

Mr. Lestrange grabbed her daughter's wrist and they both disappeared and appeared back in Scotland.

"Now stay in your home and do your duties as a wife…"

"Hello sis." said Thomas smiling mischievously after their father had left "You deserves a really painful punishment after this…"

* * *

_After my try to run away my brother was wilder with me… I could just thing on the next time I'd try it, but soon Arnold got worst, and I don't know if I did right or wrong, but I did what I felt I had to do… I stayed next to him like he'd stayed next me when I was injured…_

_The day Arnold dead I taste how sadness and happiness does when they're mixed. I was free… and not just that, I owned lands and money…_

_I know Thomas though everything would be his, but father took that out from his mind… he told him his duty was to find a wife now… He got anger, as much that he paid with me… That was the last time he would hurt me… I promised it to myself… that's why the first thing I did back to London was to buy a new wand, and then, obviously, visit my friends and tell them the news._

* * *

"Pops, someone has cnocked the door, will you open it or have I to stand up?"

"No… don't worry, dear… the queen of the house can stay on the couch…" said Poppy sarcastically and opening the door. A scream or something like that went out of her mought while she jumped to her friend's arms.

"Who's there, Pops?!" asked Rolanda from the living room.

"Do you really allow her to call you that?!" yelled Minerva coming in.

"Mina!" Rolanda jumped from the couch and run to her friend's arms too "Have you run away again?"

"No… it wasn't necessary… Arnold dead a couple days ago… I'm free…" she smiled and the three girls hugged.

"Where's your luggage? You're staying, aren't you?" asked Poppy worried.

"I don't wanna…"

"There's no problem… we have a room for you… since my grandma dead this house's being really big for me… that's why Ro spends her summer in here…"

"Ok… I guess I can stay while I fix my life up…"

* * *

_It could have never been said better… I really had to fix my life up, I had spend seven years in the hell and now my name was Minerva McGonagall, I was twenty-five and I had no idea of what I was going to do with my life._

TO BE CONTINUED…

_A/N It was a long part, I hope not really boring… on the next one I want to tell how she met Dumbledore again and they end up together… I'm sure I'll not be as longer to update as I've been this time…_

_Thanks for all your comments, lots of kisses!!!_


	16. 16 When happiness ends

Chapter sixteen: **When happiness ends**

Severus was standing alone in a dark library when a tall man came in and sat down.

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long…"

"I haven't, My Lord. But I don't know why you wanted to meet me alone…"

"The Carrow brothers are worried about you, Severus…" said Voldemort.

"Worried?"

"Yes… they think you're… falling in love… with Dumbledore's slut…"

"Nonsense!"

"That's what I said… but both of them are sure that Mrs. McGonagall is not obeying your charm anymore… that's why I've thought we should taugh her some good manners…"

"It won't be necessary, My Lord… It's true I've let the charm to get weak, but I can manage with her by myself…" said Snape trying to not sound desperate.

"I trust you, you know it Severus, but I'm sure the men will enjoy having her in here for some days… She will learn which is her position now, and they'll be able to taste your wife… I hope there's no problem with this…"

"Of course there isn't… but I should come back to the castle now, it's late…" he walked to the door and turned round "So… when have you plan I should take her here?"

"Tonight. But Alecto and Amycus will do the job…"

"Ok…" then Severus disappeared… He had to reach the castle before that two crapy brothers get into his rooms… He wasn't going to leave Minerva on those shamless death eaters hands and Lord Voldemort himself…

* * *

He arrived to the castle after midnight and breathless… appeared into his office and run upstairs.

"Minerva?!" he shouted "Minerva we have to run out! Min-!" it was too late… it seemed there had been a fight in the living room, the couch was destroyed, some chairs were on the floor, there was some blood on the wall and a wand was on the table… it was Minerva's.

"Where were you gonna run out to, Sev?" said a woman's voice.

"I'm gonna kill you, Alecto!" Severus turned round and aimed her with his wand, but she was faster this time and his felt to the floor.

"I just was worried for you, dear… you wer falling in love with that whore, and this is not possible for the Lord's plans… Now she'll learn to obey the orders that are given to her, and I can help you to not miss her…" her hands were caressing his neck, but he pushed her apart and she felt agains the table.

"Where have you taken her?" asked him threatening Alecto with her own wand.

"To the same place we take the rest of prisoners…"

"There's anything else I should know?"

"She's gonna have a special visit tomorrow… from an old friend…"

* * *

It was really cold in that dark room, she'd been there for hours, with her arms chained to the wall, gagged, and not really sure of where Amycus had taken her… She still wearing just her nightdress and she wondered if Severus knew what had happened.

Suddenly the door opened and someone charmed a light that stayed in the middle of the room… then a man came in…

"Good morning Mrs. McGonagall…" the man ducked in front of her "Do you remember me… Fake Lestrange?"

Minerva trembled… that was Gregory Goyle father…

"I've never been able to forget your face…" said her curling all her body closer to the wall.

"Great… because I haven't forgot you either… for you fault I spent fifteen years of my life in Azkaban…"

"That was the age I had when you and your friend raped me…"

"You weren't allowed to speak, bitch! You're gonna pay for what you did to me!" he grabbed her hair and unchained her hands.

* * *

"My Lord, please, I need her alive in the school… let me take her back with me…" begged Severus.

"She's busy right now, Severus… you can visit her after Goyle has joined her…"

"Goyle?"

"Yes… he had an old question to solve with her… so he asked me to be him the one to give her the first lesson…"

* * *

Gregory Goyle left the cell were Minerva was supposed to be with a sweet malicious smile on his face. Severus Snape walk across him and suddenly grabbed his arm.

"I hope you haven't hurt her too much, Greg… 'cause you're gonna suffer the same she has when I come to your house tonight…" whispered Severus on that short and fat man that quickly took that smile out from his face.

"Minerva!" she was lying on the floor, with her nighdress tore up and bleeding for so many places… she had bruises on her legs and arms, and a big cut going from her cheek to her neck… she seemed to be unconscious… Severus took out a little bottle with a transparent green liquid and gave it to her… some injuries disappeared immediately, and her eyes opened weakly.

"Severus…" she caugh.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized taking her on his embrace.

"What's happened?"

"That crapy Carrows told Lord Voldemort I was maybe falling in love with you… and they suggest the best way was to take you to the Death Eters headquartes to teach you… what any Death Eater's wife should know…" he stopped and removed some hairs from her face "I'm sorry… this is my fault…"

"It's not your fault…"

"It is… I'll take you out from here…"

"How?"

"I don't care… but you can't stay in here!"

"Severus, if you take me out without Voldemort's permission you'll be in danger too… and I don't want this to happen…"

"But Mina, what about the baby?"

"We both are fine… we'll be fine… What Goyle did to me was just a vengeance… I don't remember to have a personal problem with anyother death eater…" she tried to smiled and Severus kissed her.

"I love you" he whispered.

"What?"

"I love you…"

"Oh, dear… I love you too!" she hugged him grabbling his neck and then they kissed again.

"I should leave now… I promise I'll do everything I can to take you back to the castle the soon as possible…"

"Just don't let them discover you're a spy from the order, ok?"

Severus nodded kissed her hands and left.

TO BE CONTIUED…


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter seventeen: __**Things getting worst**_

"_My Lord, let me visit our prisoner… I'll be gentle with her… it's been so long since the last time we met…"_

"_Don't make me laugh, Bella… You've never been gentle to anyone… Anyway, you can go…"_

_

* * *

_

_The potion Severus had given her had worked really well… Nothing pained her and she felt good instead still being in that darkness… The door opened again… She wondered who was coming now until she saw that wildly-curled hair._

"_Bellatrix…" said her trying to stand up but pulled down by the chains._

"_How do you do sister?" said the fair-skinned woman charming a green light on the room._

"_How's my brother?" asked Minerva with the same sarcastic tone Bellatrix had used._

"_He's death… but I'm sure you don't care too much… You never came to our wedding…"_

"_I was busy" answered Minerva harshly, then Bella aimed her with her wand, the tip of it touching Minerva's neck._

"_Enough is enough… let's talk seriously… What have you done to Sev?"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about…"_

"_Of course you do… He seems to be charmed by you… He'd never behave like he's doing… and I'm sure it's not love what is happening to him…"_

"_Why can you be as sure?" _

"_Because he doesn't like witches like you… He's a dark wizard; he's the best one in here… he likes…"_

"_Witches like you?"_

"_Yes…" Bella's wand began to burn Minerva's skin, she grabbed the chains, hardly bearing the pain… and unconsciously her hands grabbed her belly when a strong pain began in it. Bella's eyes rolled down and gazed her movement… then she moved apart… and looked at her belly… a while later Minerva was sure she'd noticed the curve on it but she said nothing, just run out the cell…_

_

* * *

_

_Severus was still being in the Malfoy's mansion when Bella passed across him apparently coming from the dungeons. Then she stopped suddenly noticing his presence._

"_I know what's going on, Sev…" said her caressing his neck sensually "Don't worry anymore… I'm going to tell the Lord she's expecting a bastard… I'm sure she's charmed you to make you think it's yours…" she stayed on her tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth "I'll make you free from that bitch…"_

_When Bellatrix had turned on the corner Severus run back to the dungeons and went into Minerva's cell._

"_He's coming!" exclaimed._

"_Severus… what are you doing in here?"_

"_Bella knows you're pregnant… She's gonna tell Voldemort, and he'll come to make sure… We have to do something…" he was nervous… "He's good in legilimens…" Severus took out his wand and pointed his hand… a little bottle appeared on it and this time the liquid was silver… "This will confuse your mind…"_

"_What do you mean?" asked her noticing his worry._

"_You'll not be sure what's real and what's not… This is my false remember about me raping you… I'm sure it will be the first think he'll look for…" he opened the bottle and with his wand he pulled the liquid out "I'm sorry…" said him taking the remember into Minerva's head… Suddenly they heard a noise, Minerva gazed the door and Severus disappeared before Bella went in followed by a large shadow._

"_Welcome to my hideout, Mrs. McGonagall…" said that cold voice "I hope you aren't too much uncomfortable, as your sister-in-law is sure you're expecting… is it true?"_

"_It's not your business…" said Minerva harshly and Voldemort laughed._

"_What a funny little cat… let's see your belly…" he grabbed her nightdress and tore it up to show her navel. Minerva stepped back, but Voldemort said something on parsel and the chains pulled Minerva harder against the wall. She couldn't move while his large fingers met her skin._

"_Don't touch me!" yelled her, and his other hand quickly moved in front her mouth and gagged her words. He closed his eyes, and Minerva felt something happening into her belly… a magic… his magic… running inside of her… She fainted… or she felt like she had… Then she felt nothing… as if someone had taken her mind away from her body… she felt powerless while she travel through the time… .. ._

_. · R . · . E . · . M . · . E . · . M . · . B . · . E . · . R . · . S · ._

_Minerva found herself at home… her real home… the one where she'd grown up with her brothers and her aunt. A Christmas tree was behind her, she was sitting on the window looking the small city of Aberdeen… Little houses, from there, inhabited by muggles… that strange people able to be happy instead of not having powers… She knew why they were happy, by the way… they all have a caring father and a loving mother… they had a family… something she hadn't… Her father used to be out of town, working somewhere he never told about, and the only person caring after them, she and her brothers, was their aunt. But she was old, and ill… and that day, from the living room, she was listening to her last begs for life._

_Suddenly a man stepped on the grass… it was the family doctor… when he rang the bell the image disappeared…_

It came the void… the darkness… the coldness… and suddenly…

_She was able to recognize that stone walls just feeling the heat of its touch on her back… she was in Hogwarts… her second home… But she was feeling fear… The light came again… her eyes had opened… and a face… that big, round, scary face was in front of her smiling… She wanted to cry, to yell, to run away… Why was she living that moment again? She cried, she yelled, she ran the faster she could… but her body still their… any sound came out of her mouth, and her eyes did anything but stare that big, round, scary face of young Gregory Goyle raping her._

_Again, the void… I don't frighten you!_ the darkness… _I'm stronger than you!_ the coldness… _I don't fear the past! _and suddenly…

"Stop it, Thomas!" she listened herself begging from the floor "Stop it, please!" she was crying, painful, and she was sure she was bleeding from somewhere because she felt wet.

"Not until you do your duties!" that was her brother's voice… and she felt his hand slapping her cheek.

"My duties are with my husband… not with you…"

"I'm here to make an obedient woman from you… so stand up and lye on the bed as you're being told!"

"NEVER!" the strength of that yell pulled him against the wall and she tried to run away, but Thomas rose his wand and stopped her. She could feel her skin burning, but any beg came out from her lips…

One more time, the void… _I can bear this!_ the darkness… _I've fight Death itself, I can fight you too! _the coldness… _I survive all this when it happened… I can do it again! _and suddenly…

She was in Hogwarts again… she could smell the roses of Mrs. Sprout's little garden behind the greenhouses… suddenly it began to be cold… she turned round and Snape's presence scared her. _When had that happened? _His lips whispered some words and she fainted… a while later she found herself tied to a bed… in the dungeons… _Were that Severus' old rooms?_ He came towards her and his hand caressed her body making her shiver… she was naked.

"Severus what are you doing? What does all this-?" he gagged her. _That couldn't be real!_ Severus sat stride on top of her… he wasn't nude, but rolled up his robe… She couldn't see it, but quickly felt the tip of his manhood going into her body… _No! NO!_ He was rough… didn't care to be kind… he was hurting her… _Stop it! Stop it!_ She cried into her mind. Then he began to whisper a spell… and she moaned against her will… _No! I can't… I can't bear this! I want to run out… I need…_

Light! A shinny white light made the scene disappeared… she liked that heat… a relaxing breathe close to her nose, a paused beating near her heart, a soft touch on her skin… and a sweet taste on her lips…

_albuseverusalbuseverus albuseverusalbuseverus albuseverusalbuseverus albuseverusalbuseverus albuseverusalbuseverus albuseverusalbuseverus_

When she opened her eyes she met a blurred image… sometimes dark-haired and blue-eyed, sometimes white-haired and dark-eyed. She wasn't sure of who was him… she just knew it had taken away that horrible remembers…

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"Who was him?!!" yelled Voldemort when Minerva came back to herself.

"Who was who?" asked her still confused after the effort she'd just done.

"The man of the end of your remembers! Who was that man who made you feel as good?"

"My father" said her sarcastically.

"Don't dare to make fun of me, witch!" shouted him grabbing her neck.

"I guess it was my husband" said her.

"You mean Snape?"

"Sure… who else?"

"Is him the father of your baby?"

"He's the only man who dares to bed me…"

"That's not what your remembers told me…"

"That happened a long time ago… those men are dead for me… right now the only wizard alive able to get me pregnant has been him…"

"I'm sure it will be interesting to have a little Snape growing inside Dumbledore's slut belly… I'd like what that old wizard would say if he was still alive…" Voldemort laugh and Minerva rolled her eyes trying to not cry "No we know your little secret I'm afraid I'll have to take you back to Severus… these dungeons are not good for a pregnant lady…"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	18. 18 Together in an aparently calm

_Disclaimer: I don't remember what I wrote on it, so look on the earliest chapters._

_A/N: I'm sorry for being so late updating this fic… I had to fix some ideas and I really hadn't too much time… I hope I'll be able to continue it soon and that you'll enjoy this part ;P Kisses and thanks for all your reviews, you know I always love them!!_

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: **Together in an apparently calm**

Early in the morning, before any student had woken up, Severus Snape crossed the infirmary's doors like greased lighting.

"How's she?!" he yelled while the high wooden doors made a big noise when they closed.

"Calm down, Severus. Pop's with her, now… you can't go in" Rolanda told him stopping his way to the room. He took his hands to his head and sat down on the nearest bed, almost crying "Hagrid found her near the castle's gate, lying unconscious on the ground…" Hooch continued telling "Severus… Where has she been? You told us she was feeling bad when we asked for her yesterday at breakfast time, but you lied us, didn't you?!" she grabbed the neck of his clothes menacing, and right then the door of the bottom was opened and let Mrs. Pomfrey to go out. She closed it back carefully and stepped to the people in the middle of the room.

"How's her, Pop's?" Rolanda wondered.

"Can I see her, Poppy, please?" Severus begged standing up.

"She's resting… she has some bruises, but she'll recover…" then she turned to Severus and whispered "…we should talk…" Saying anything else, she went into her office and Severus followed her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm worried about this pregnancy, Severus… she nearly lost the baby once… She's lost too much blood this time… It looks like if someone had beaten her purposely to force her to abort…"

"But they're fine, now… aren't them?"

"They are… but you should know any other problem would not just affect the baby, but her too…"

"Do you mean…?"

"I mean, if Hagrid hadn't found her so early we would be crying a new death in the castle…"

* * *

_Minerva was looking the seaside from the big window of the living room of their house in Aberdeen when some men were coming downstairs. _

"_I'm sorry Mr. Lestrange" said the oldest one"I know this is a horrible lose for your family". _

"_Thank you, doctor. My sister has taken care of my children since my last wife's death…" she listen her father say._

"_Maybe you should look for a new mother for them…"_

"_It's unnecessary… My little one begins in Hogwarts this year, so it will be just for a few months… my servants can take care of her while I'm out… Then I'll look for a good husband for her…"_

_Suddenly the scene became cold, and dark… and she felt like she was falling down to the void…_

_The laughs of those two boys were repeated once and again into her mind while she crossed the labyrinth corridors of the school… She just wanted to cry, to yell, to run away… she couldn't even feel rage or fear… she felt nothing else than her own tears wondering to come out._

_Again, the scene became cold, and dark… and she felt like she was falling down to the void…_

_The soft touch of some sheets under her skin, the heat of a men on top of her and the cold feeling of some metal around her wrists… she opened her eyes… she was naked… and from the little window on the wall she could see the Scottish seaside that always inspired her that freedom she hadn't… She avoided looking at the man sleeping with her… She knew who was him and she tried hard to take that thought, that remember out from her mind… Then he moved around, caressed her bruised face and stole a kiss from her lips._

"_Good morning, little sister"_

_She said nothing, just gazed the window trying to get free from the chains on her wrists…_

… _coldness …_

… _darkness …_

… _the void …_

… _Hogwarts …_

_The smell of Mrs. Sprout's roses still on her nose when she opened her eyes and found herself tied to a bed… again; shivering because of the touch of a man… His face was a blur… she made an effort to see him, to look at his eyes… those dark eyes staring at her… his fair skin, dark hair, cold hands… Severus… _No, it couldn't be Severus…_ It's him… _No… no… no!

She felt the touch of some fingers caressing her face sweetly… slowly… like if they were trying to be careful with her skin, like if they were afraid it could tore up if they slide on her too roughly…

She felt the touch of a hand wrapping hers… of a breath near her ear… of some lips tasting her cheek… _Severus…_

* * *

"Minerva… can you hear me?" Severus asked when he felt his fingers moving into his hand.

She opened her eyes, looked at him, and suddenly removed her hand from his.

"Minerva…?"

"You… you're on my remembers… on top of me… you are… you're… but then… then I feel good with you… I don't understand anything… I'm confused… my mind is confused…" she was talking with a low voice, nearly crying, but trying hard to not let a tear fell down.

"I'd never hurt you… you know it, Minerva… You're confused because I put a false remember on your mind, do you remember it?"

"…a false remember?"

"Yes… when I visited you in the dungeon… The Dark Lord was coming… he knew about the baby… Minerva you have to tell me what happened…"

"He came to the cell… he stood very close to me… I didn't want him to touch me… He made me feel sick, and then… a lot of remembers came to my mind, things I always try to keep away from my thoughts… but at the end I managed to control it, someone appeared on my mind and comforted me… it was you, and Dumbledore…" Their looks met, and she kept staring at those dark eyes so mysterious, but so pleasant when they were gazing at her "Oh, Severus!" she cried and looked for the embrace of his hand on the sheets "He knows, but he's sure the baby it's yours… he let me leave, and asked Amycus to take me back…"

"…was him who beat you?"

Minerva shook her head nervously and grapping the white sheets of the hospital's bed hardly.

"…you have to tell me… if it's him who's hurt you I have to make sure he'll never approach you again…"

"After cross Hogsmeade we stopped and he said he didn't know how we'd managed to do it, but that Voldemort now though he and his sister were liars so he would make us pay it killing the baby… I couldn't stop him, I hadn't my wand and I felt so weak… Later he left me bleeding alone, I managed to come to the castle, and the next thing I remember are the caresses of your hands…"

"I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Severus yelled taking out his wand.

"No, please... Not more deaths…" she begged.

"Alright" he sighted, caressed her hair and then continued "Poppy wants you to rest a lot and stay calm, so you'll teach less classes and someone will always be with you… and I don't care if you agree 'cause I'm doing this for you both, ok?"

"I don't want a shadow following me around the castle… And you can't take out my classes as easily!"

"Of course I do… I'm your headmaster, and your husband… so you can do nothing else than follow my will…" he kissed her forehead and stood up "I'll come back later, Poppy wants to test you again and I have work to do"

She nodded and smiled. Instead it annoyed her, it was lovely to see a so much caring Severus.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	19. 19 Approval

_A/N: Those who follow me know I've been writing new Minerva McGonagall fanfiction lately, and also reading some new stories… so I thought it should be the time to update (and take to the end) my old stories now that I'm back to Harry Potter's world._

_I feel I should apologize for being almost a year and a half late with this update… I feel very sorry for those who were entirely into this fic, because I understand how you feel… I really didn't realize it had been so long…_

_I wish you all enjoy this new chapter, there's nothing very important happening on it, but I needed to get into the plot again, maybe the register has changed a little, I hope my grammar has (in a better way lol)… but I wish you keep reading and reviewing^^ _

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Chapter nineteen: **Approval**

…

When Poppy allowed her to leave the hospital wing, Minerva didn't waited for Severus to come, because she felt the need to go somewhere he would maybe didn't let her.

She still was the Gryffindor head, so her rooms in the tower were still at her disposition, even if she hadn't step in them since the day Severus asked the elfs to take all her stuff to the headmaster's rooms.

After closing that door behind her and smelling the air of which had been her home for almost forty years of her long life, she couldn't believe she'd really spent almost four months without going there.

She sat down on her old desk chair and sighted. After the wedding they'd decided the better way to make things easier would be to stop talking with the old headmaster's portrait… Well, it had actually been Albus idea, who was always thinking on what the best was for the people around him without asking before deciding. But Minerva had to admit it was hard trying to keep on with her life after his death if at the end of the day she had the relief of finding his voice on an old portrait.

Even if it was hard, it wasn't fair to keep him involved in her life in such a way… he was dead, he was gone, he wouldn't be there anymore… that portrait was just a remember of his soul and it wasn't healthy for her to have it close. So, Severus, following Dumbledore's orders, took the picture of his office away and they finally had to get use to life without his advice.

Several months had passed since that decision, and she'd behaved well… She had stopped herself of coming into her old rooms every time she'd ended up standing in front of the door with the key between her fingers… but there she was now… sitting on her desk, with her hand trembling on the drawer that kept that little portrait of him. She opened it hesitatingly, and took the picture out.

It was empty. He was gone…

"Albus?" she asked, but she obtained no answer, no movement… "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you better appear here right now if you don't want me to throw the painting to the fire."

"You wouldn't dare doing that, kitten" his voice said, right before his face appeared on the frame.

"You wouldn't like to try me" she replied trying to keep herself entire while her eyes filled with tears.

"Is anything wrong? Is our baby alright?"

"The baby is fine, luckily…" she whispered the last word "I just… felt I needed to talk to you"

"I thought we'd decided…"

"No… you decided, Albus, just like always… Look, I know you're dead, I'm absolutely aware that I won't have you with me anymore, I've learnt how to live missing you every day but… don't ask me to forget you…" and her tears finally came out.

"Don't cry… please. You know I don't like seeing you cry… and even less when I know it's my fault…"

"It's not your fault… Well, maybe a little" she said looking at the portrait by the corner of her eye while she dried her tears with a smile on her lips "I need to tell you something, I feel I have to tell you to be in peace with myself"

"You're worrying me… What is it about?"

"It's about Severus" and she felt her cheeks blushing.

"He's treating you well, isn't him?"

"He certainly is" she answered and continued without letting him reply "Dumbledore…" and the use of his surname surprised him "Things between Severus and me… have changed lately…"

"What do you mean?"

"We've got closer to each other… very close… You understand what I mean?" she wondered, hoping she didn't need to tell him more.

"I'm not sure"

"Albus… I think I've felt in love with Severus… We've actually told each other our feelings already and… Oh, God, Albus…!" she exclaimed with a cry on her voice "I love you, I really love you deeply but… I feel so lonely and he's… he's so gentle with me, Albus… you wouldn't recognize him… I myself can't believe he's the same Severus I met"

"Am I wrong if I say I notice some guilt on your voice?" he said, and she looked at those blue eyes she missed so much. "Minerva, my love, my dear, my tabby kitten… you don't have to feel guilty for anything, I would never doubt of your love for me… but I'm gone, sweetheart… forever… and you have all the right to fall in love again, and I couldn't think on any better wizard for you than Severus Snape… Who comes to be your actual husband"

Minerva gazed him, but his smile made it impossible for her to get upset with him.

"Thank you" she said crying again "Thank you, Albus… I really needed to tell you, to know you were alright with it…" but then a noisy nocking at the door interrupted her and she quickly hided the portrait into the drawer.

"Minerva, I know you're there… the fat woman of the tower entrance told me she'd let you in a while ago" It was Severus. She walked to the door and let him in. "You had to wait me at the Hospital wing… I told you I didn't wanted you to walk alone around the castle… If Amycus finds you on your own… I don't… I can't…" and before his usual calm could disappear, he met the touch of her hands on his cheeks, and he kissed them, and she approached him, and kissed his lips.

"I promise I'll be obedient from now on… I just felt… kind of nostalgic" she lied.

"I don't need you to be obedient, just to be careful… for yourself, and the baby…" he said placing a hand on her belly, and they both suddenly realized that was the first time he did that gesture.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	20. 20 Merry Christmas I

**Angelica – 20 Merry Christmas I**

…

Weeks passed through with the best normality for a war time. The few newspapers that were still working, took to the school reports about new deaths and disappearances every day… Students left the school every week after been told someone of their siblings was missing or dead… or just because their families were afraid of having their children so far from home.

"I know it's Christmas… but I don't feel like it" Minerva was telling to her friends while they saw the Hogwarts Express leaving.

"Don't talk like that, Minerva" Sybill said "You're expecting a baby, you should be very happy"

"I can't be happy thinking on the friends I've lost, the wives that will wait forever for their husband to come back home… It just seems not fair to be happy while so many people is suffering right now"

"We understand how you feel, Mina" Poppy spoke "But you should think on the mothers that are waiting for these kids at London" and she pointed to the train faraway "You make it possible for them to be safe here and be able to come back home for Christmas… You should be happy for this"

"Don't be silly, Pops… People is dying, the war won't stop to celebrate Christmas eve… and some of these kids will probably not come back after holidays"

"Rolanda…" Sybill and Poppy muttered.

"No, she's right… It's not time to celebrate anything" Minerva said leaving the platform followed by her friends.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Back at the castle, Sybill walked Minerva to the headmaster's rooms.

"Minerva… Don't listen to Rolanda… These are not easy times but… maybe this makes it more important to enjoy Christmas with the people we love and who are still with us…"

"Thank you" Minerva replied before going inside. She stood in front of the big mirror of the sitting room of their rooms, and caressed her big belly… She would be holding a baby on her arms in a few weeks… Her baby… Albus' baby… She wondered if it would be a girl or boy and suddenly she realized she'd never asked him which name he'd like to give to their son or daughter… They'd spent all those years avoiding any baby conversation because it always became an argument that ended up with Minerva's tears and Albus disappearing.

"What's wrong?" Severus suddenly came in and found Minerva crying in the middle of the living room.

"Nothing" she said drying her tears… she hadn't even noticed she was crying…

"You know you can't lie…" he said, approaching her from the back and embracing her waist "Tell me what's wrong…" he whispered to her ear.

"Everything" she muttered "The students are gone, in a few days it's Christmas, Albus' not here, I haven't even thought on a name for the baby, people's dying out there and I feel I'm doing nothing to stop it…"

"You're talking like Albus right now… You can't have everything under control, my dear…" he said, putting some hair of her back on its right place "The war will be finished soon, the students need to be with their families, especially now… We'll start thinking on names for the baby, ok? Together, with Albus... and about Christmas…" he said, showing a letter to her "Your father just sent us an owl"

"What?"

"It was addressed to the two of us… So I opened it… He wants us to be in his Christmas party"

"Has he become crazy? I haven't spent a Christmas at home since Arnold's death…"

"I guess he's happy with your new husband" Severus smiled.

"You know he just wants all his friends to know his daughter has married Lord Voldemort's right hand"

"Of course I do, but I think we should go"

"No"

"Minerva, people outside the Castle still thinks this marriage is fake… If we just go to this party and let some of them see us together, as a real couple… they'll stop thinking it's a lie"

"I thought there was nothing to show up anymore, I thought this is was real now…" she said in an upset one, stepping away.

"It is" he replied, holding her shoulders and stealing a kiss from her lips "Albus plan to win this war was Harry Potter… I'm not saying I don't believe that kid is able to do it but… just in the case Albus plan goes wrong, I want to be sure nothing will happen to you or the baby" he kept staring at her shiny green eyes. "I can't obligate you to go, but…"

"Stop the silly talking… Albus always did the same… I trust you, whatever you think is the best for us" and she hold her belly ", I'll do it… but don't expect me to behave as one of those puppet wives during party" she stepped to leave proudly, right after saying the last word, just as she did when she argued with Albus… but Severus hold her wrist sweetly and pulled her to his embrace.

"I'd never do that" he whispered on her ear, having the last word of the argument.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I'm sorry, I wanted to post a longer part but I'm not sure of what will happen during the party and I thought this was a good moment to stop.


	21. 21 Merry Christmas II

**Angelica – 21 Merry Christmas II**

…

"Wait" Minerva sighted in a defeated tone while they were approaching her old family house on Christmas eve.

"What's wrong now?" Severus wondered, knowing she would complain again about having to go to that party like she'd been doing since they received the invitation.

"Kiss me"

"What?"

"I understand this is important for the baby's sake, so…" he could notice her hesitance on her voice "…if we don't want anyone to suspect… we should better act like them, and you know that, once we go into that house, your sweetness and care will just become a sign of weakness…"

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, confused by her talking.

"I mean that I allow you to do whatever you need to behave like one of those wizards during the party… but, before we go inside and I begin to feel the urge of slapping your face… just kiss me"

Severus felt a mixture of feelings growing inside of him… He had seen how Lucius treated Narcissa in their daily life and he felt guilty for making Minerva ask him to treat her in the same way. He felt sad because her eyes were shining with tears she wouldn't let go down and impotence wondering if they would ever have the chance to have a normal relationship.

He stepped closer and held her hand sweetly while his lips caressed her mouth tenderly.

* * *

She breathed hard before ringing the bell… a sound that took a lot of memories back to her mind… An elf house let them come into the big hall. A double staircase climbed to the first floor, but the party was held in the living room. They could hear the sound of some music… when they reached the little crowd of people Minerva had never seen, she could see her old piano and an harp playing on their own from a corner of the big room.

"My dear daughter, I'm so happy you finally came" Mr. Lestrange approached them limping from his left leg, opening his arms wide to embrace his daughter, and then he bended himself to kiss her seven-month belly "I can't believe I had to hear about your pregnancy from Bella. Were you trying to keep my only grandson as a secret?"

Severus noticed Minerva was wordless looking for an appropriate answer for her father, so he helped her.

"With the war increasing we thought the best thing was not to let much people know about it… we both have a lot of enemies"

"Clever boy" Mr. Lestrange said "I'm so happy that my angel finally found someone who cares about her, and who knows what's better for his family" he was going to keep talking, but a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Look who's here, the happily married Snape family"

Both Minerva and Severus turned around to meet Bellatrix Lestrange with a glass of red vine on her hand.

"I was now telling them how happy I am with their union, Bella"

"We all are" they could taste the poison on her tongue "At least, we finally found someone able to break in the little tabby cat…" and she bended down to caress Minerva's belly, what made her shiver "Let's hope the kitten to look like its father… if that's Severus, of course…" and she gazed at him mischievously.

"Oh, what a thing to say, Bella" William replied like if she had just been joking "Who else could be my grandson's father but my daughter's husband" then, the doorbell rang and Mr. Lestrange disappeared.

"I know you're expecting a bastard" Bellatrix whispered so just Minerva could hear her before leaving them alone.

"There's no reason to fear her" Severus said trying to calm Minerva, who was biting her lip, holding herself back.

"I don't fear her but what she can find out"

"Let's get some drinks, come on" he said taking Minerva by her arm to the other side of the room where there were little fountains of many different drinks. They both had a glass of juice, Minerva because of her pregnancy, and Severus because he knew very well he should keep himself sober in order not to make any mistake.

When they were coming back to the crowd, Minerva suddenly stopped walking and her glass slipped from her hands. Severus used his wand with a quick move to stop it before it crashed with the ground and looked at her wife's shocked face… like if she'd seen a thestral for the first time.

"Minerva?" he asked trying to find the reason of her surprise, and he just saw Mr. Lestrange coming back from the hall with a dark haired man he couldn't recognize. When he looked back at Minerva, she was gone.

"You already lost your bitch, Severus?" he heard Bellatrix from his back.

"Go to hell, Bella…"

He felt her hand on his shoulder, and his lips approaching his ear to whisper "That is your brother-in-law, my dear"

"Leonard" he muttered.

"No, no, no…" she said "He's little Tommy… Minerva's twin brother… I'm sure you know what a good relationship they always had"

His anger grew… That man was the one who mistreated Minerva until she could escape… He would kill him, slowly, painfully… he would enjoy his begs of mercy coming out from his lips… He thought while his hand reached for his wand.

"You wouldn't do that" Bellatrix said keeping his hand on his pocket. "He is one of us, Severus"

"Stay away from me and my wife, Bella!" he yelled out pushing her back and leaving the room. She was right… he wouldn't hurt him, not now, not yet… it wasn't the time… He climbed the stairs, not finding Minerva anywhere.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	22. 22 Merry Christmas III

**A/N: Sorry, this is not a very good part… The truth is I ran out of ideas for this story, but I do have already written the last two chapters with many details… so I'll maybe make a big jump on the story and go straight on to the end. **

**Angelica – 22**

…

"Minerva?" Severus asked while he knocked every door upstairs, hoping she would answer. There was a half-opened door at the end of the corridor. He looked throw it and found Minerva sitting down at the window ledge.

"Minerva…" he said startling her. She looked back at him.

"I'm sorry I disapparated" she apologized "I used to feel safe in here, you know…" and she stood up and walked around her old bedroom caressing the edge of the bed while memories came to her mind "I used to run upstairs and cast some locking spell at the door I believed nobody would break…" she left go a sweet laugh "Of course they were weak but, I did feel I could keep anyone away from me" she sighted "When I've seen him downstairs I… I've felt that irrational fear he inspired me years ago and I felt I had to run away… but I've realized of something…"

"What is it?" Severus wondered, following with his eyes every step she made around him.

"I'm not that twenty-year-old witch anymore… I'm stronger, now… I'm powerful, I know it and I won't doubt to make him know if it's necessary"

He didn't reply, there were no words need after that… he just walked towards her and pulled her to his embrace, caressing her cheek, drying the tears she'd been crying before he came, proud of her courage. Then he noticed a shadow approaching the door… and he remembered their chat before coming into the house. So he pull apart their hug and grabbed Minerva's wrist hard.

"You're hurting me" Minerva said not understanding why he was suddenly doing that.

"Shut up. I told you to stay at my sight, I don't like you disapparating without my consent." Severus talked harshly, feeling each word on his own soul.

"Wow, sis. I see daddy was right, you finally found the husband you deserved" Thomas Lestrange said from the frame door. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Snape" he added, looking at Severus this time, offering him his hand. But Severus just grabbed Minerva harder, now from her arm, and took her out from the room ignoring her brother.

* * *

"Now that everybody has arrived" Mr. Lestrange said "We can all sit down to the table"

He made Minerva sit on his right hand, and Thomas on his left. Severus sat next to his wife and Bellatrix in front of him. Minerva had to stand her mischievous looks and smiles at her husband for all the meal. When the time for the toast came, William Lestrange stood up with his glass on his left hand.

"Attention, please" and everybody looked at him "I'd like to say that… these are terrible war times" Minerva listened to him carefully after that statement "Because we all are seeing people we care about passing away… Yes, I know you young people don't understand my words now but me, who fought on the first war… I know what it is and I have to say it's not easy to me to see my sons going after their own deaths, fight in different sides like if there wasn't the same blood in their veins" That made Minerva understand why Leonard wasn't there… he was fighting against Voldemort and their father couldn't be very happy about that. She wondered where he could be to send him an owl. "But I'm sure my older son will see the light like my dear and only daughter has" and she suddenly felt her hand being wrapped on his fingers and elevated to his lips… he kissed the back of her hand and smiled to her. For the first time in years, Minerva felt the love of her father. She smiled him back. "I want all of you, my dear friends, to know I couldn't be happier now that I have my dear Angel back, and that she's giving me my first grandson"

Minerva could notice the glare of his brother from behind their father… He couldn't be enjoying the situation… but she ignored him. After the toast everybody stood up to dance at the sound of the piano.

"Can I have a dance with my daughter?" Mr. Lestrange asked offering a hand to Minerva, who took it to help herself stand up.

"Dad, I…" she said realizing she'd never called him that since she was a kid.

"I love you too, my Angel" William replied "I always have"

* * *

Back at the castle, Minerva sat down on the couch of their sitting room.

"Severus… Is it wrong to love someone who's done terrible things?"

"Is it me who you have in mind?" he wondered.

"No" she said smiling at her husband, making him sit down next to her "I know you regret what you've done, and I know you are in the right side of the war now"

"Who else do you love, then?" he said, playing a little jealous.

"My father… He'll never change his mind about this damn fight against muggles but…"

"He's your father…"

"Yes" she replied "I can't help it but feel affection for him, is that wrong?"

"No, it's not" he kissed her lips and then moved his wand to make a little music box on the table play some music "Come on, we didn't have the chance to dance tonight" he said, and she giggled standing up and following him to the center of the sitting room. "Merry Christmas my love"

"Merry Christmas" she whispered back, resting her head on his shoulder while they danced.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	23. 23 Christmas morning

**Angelica - 23**

On the morning, Severus woke up to notice Minerva was already awake. She was sitting at the edge of the bed with her look lost somewhere on the ground. Severus knelt on the sheets and massaged her shouldered while his lips met her neck.

"Good morning" he said not getting a reply "Couldn't you sleep tonight?" he wondered sitting next to her holding her hand.

"I want to find my brother" she talked "My dad said he was fighting in the war in our side… I need to know William is fine, and I want him to know he's not alone as I thought I was"

Severus grabbed her chin to make her green eyes meet his "We'll find him" he smiled "I promise" he said "Now, let's celebrate Christmas. Everybody must be waiting for us."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

There were six Christmas trees on each side of the Great hall, shiny little fairies could be seen flying around them, the magic ceiling was letting snow fall into the room, but it vanished before touching the ground, and instead of the four long tables, there was just one round dinner table in the middle of the room, already set with dozens of Christmas dishes.

"We were waiting for you two" exclaimed Rolanda with her mouth filled with pudding.

"Care you manners, Ro, please" Poppy advised handing her a napkin.

"Have a sit" Filtwick said moving two chairs apart for the Headmaster and Deputy.

"It's just breakfast time" Minerva said, seeing all those different plates on the table… but she was just trying to sound nice, since at her seven-month-pregnant state she wouldn't care to have all that food just for herself.

"We thought that since this is the first year all the students are gone with their families for Christmas, we should have our own party" Pomona Sprout talked serving some Christmas cake to herself.

"…for the whole day long!" Rolanda claimed raising her cup, who knows what it was filled with.

"This is crazy" Minerva laughed serving herself some hot chocolate but keeping her look at the turkey in the middle of the table, wondering if it would be too rough not waiting till lunch time to eat it.

"That's why we can't do it when students are here" Filtwick said.

"They would think we are crazy" Pomona added laughing all loud, surely she'd already had more than one glass of vine.

"We do are" Poppy said causing Minerva to laugh again, what made Severus smile while he served some hot chocolate for himself too.

"What is this?" they heard to a too familiar annoying voice yelling from the door frame.

"It's December twenty-five, Alecto, it's Christmas" Severus said, since the rest of the stuff kept their selves shut up in front of the Carrows. "You can either join us or leave, but do not spoil the party, please"

They all laughed under their noses while the Carrow sister left angrily closing the door behind her "Well said, Headmaster!" Filtwick cheered with his glass.

They ate, laughed and sang Christmas songs for hours… on a moment of calm, Rolanda suggested they could proceed with the presents and so everybody made their packet appear on the table. It was a tradition among Hogwarts stuff to play Secret Santa for Christmas, nobody remembered exactly when was the first time they did that, but they were sure it had all started someday because of Albus. He always was the one having more fun with the game, and that would be the first Christmas without him.

Severus somehow guessed Minerva's thoughts and held her hand while Filtwick was given a mandragora by Pomona.

"Who goes now?" Poppy asked.

"Me, me, me!" Rolanda insisted as a child and nobody objected. She stood up and walked towards Minerva to give her a large packet. "I couldn't resist it" she said while Minerva opened it and took out the last model of Nimbus.

"A broom?" she questioned "But, Rolanda… you made me promise you I would never fly again"

"That was centuries ago, nobody keeps a promise for so long. I allow you to fly again" she said.

"Oh, thank you…" she hugged her friend "…but you know what this mean, right?"

"What?"

"As soon as I got rid of this big tummy I'm gonna show you I'm still the best flyer in the school"

"Here we're again" Poppy muttered.

"Were they like this on their school days?" Severus asked.

"They were worst" and they both laughed.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

* * *

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

A few days after the students had came back from their short holidays, Severus crossed the school in a hurry and went into Minerva's classroom without knocking, causing all the students to raise their looks to him.

"Go back to your work" he said with a threatening gaze at them before approaching Minerva's desk.

"Is anything wrong?" she wondered in a whisper. He took a paper out from his pocket and handed it to Minerva.

"I have news from your brother"

"What?"

"His name was in the list of traitors of the Dark Lord… some weeks ago two Death Eaters went to his house looking for him and killed his family, he had a wife and two daughters"

"He's dead?"

"No, no… he's fine, he could escape with the younger of the children… he killed one of the men Voldemort sent to find him, that's why I know this. He must be hidden somewhere… Minerva I'd like to help your brother, do you have any idea of where he could be?"

"I don't know, I… I haven't seen him for ages… maybe…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

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A/N: I decided to update Angelica, since is the fic with more followers and you all did deserve an update so I sat down in front of the white page on the screen, wrote the number of chapter and then started taping whatever came to my mind… I hope you liked what the update ended up being, because I think now I do know how to link the story from this point to the end I wrote weeks ago. Thanks for reading and your always welcomed reviews ^.^


	24. 24 Angelica

**Angelica – 24 **

From the cliff they were standing they could see an old wooden house on the sand. The sea seemed to try to catch it, but could never reach it.

"It's the only place I think Leo could be" Minerva said.

"Let's see" Severus said, taking her hand to make them disapparate and apparate back in front of the old door. He knocked but there was no response. He knocked again, but they were ignored one more time.

"Leonard" Minerva said from the porch they were standing "It's me, Minerva, I know you must be scared but… if you're there, please, open… we're here to help" her Scottish accent more noticeable than ever before.

She sighted… she'd failed… there was obviously nobody in that abandoned house. She would never see her brother again.

"Let's go" she muttered holding her husband's hand right when the door opened itself a little. They looked at each other, and Severus pushed the door open to let Minerva in.

"Leonard?" she questioned looking around when all of a sudden a tall wizard with long black hair tied in a tail appeared from under the stairs with his wand pointing at her. Severus instinctively took his wand out too, but the other man kept looking at Minerva.

"Demonstrate you're my sister"

"You, you always talked about this house to me… you said mother took you here every summer" her eyes began to fill with tears, she hadn't seen her brother in years and there he was, standing right in front of her, unrecognizable "She died here, they day she gave birth to me and Thomas… you always said you could feel her in this walls"

Leonard put his wand down and crossed the corridor to embrace his little sister, they both began to cry while Severus noticed a little girl coming out shyly.

"Daddy?" she questioned and Minerva broke the embrace apart to look at her little nephew.

"This is Sophie" he said "Sophie, this is Minerva"

"This is not Minnie!"

"No, she's your aunt Minerva, pet, daddy's sister"

The girl looked up at the pregnant woman with a questioning look, and Minerva smiled to her.

"My older one" Leonard told hiding some sobs "her name was Minerva" and he smiled to his sister.

"Leonard this is Severus, my husband… He's here to help you. We know what happened, you can't hide on your own"

"Let's go to the sitting room, I made some tea" the man said guiding them to the bottom of the corridor, hand in hand with the little girl. "I somehow could escape with Sophie" he told holding a cup of tea with trembling hands "If I were on my own I would have killed myself days ago but, I still have something to fight for"

"They'll find you here" Severus said "Soon or later, they will. You should travel the further you can, maybe to Europe, 'till the war is finished"

"You really think this will end some day?" Leonard questioned when they were surprised by a knocking at the front door.

"Go hiding" Leonard ordered looking at his sister and daughter. Minerva grabbed the girls' arm and run under the stairs while Severus and her brother went to receive the new visit.

Severus opened the door slowly with his wand prepared.

"Mr. Lestrange!" he exclaimed in surprise. Minerva's father was standing at the porch on his own.

"Father?"

"You stupid boy" Mr. Lestrange said grabbing his son's neck, completely ignoring Severus. "I knew you would be here. I told you to be careful if you wanted to protect your family!"

Severus closed the door while Minerva came out with the girl.

"Dad, please!" she begged grabbing her belly in pain.

"Minerva!" Severus exclaimed and father and son stopped their fight to look at her breaking waters.

Minerva lost her balance, but two arms grabbed her before she felt and carried her upstairs to a beautiful bedroom with a four posted bed.

"Is she going to have the baby?" Sophie asked her father.

"In the same bed she was born" Leonard replied.

"We should get a doctor" Mr. Lestrange said.

"No" Severus said "Unless you want to tell on your son"

"No, of course not, I came to help him leave"

"What?" Minerva asked confused and in pain.

"I'll go and get Poppy, you two try to behave" Severus advised to his family-in-law "Keep an eye on her" and he gave a last sight to Minerva while he disapparated.

"I'll get some towels" William Lestrange said.

"We're going to need some hot water too" her brother muttered, both men walking away at the same time.

"Couldn't you just stay by my sight please, I'm in labor!" Minerva yelled out making the two wizards step back and sit down, one on each side of the bed. "We're supposed to be a family"

"You remind me of mother" Leonard said holding his sister's hand.

"She really looks like her" her father added putting some hair of her back on its place "Everything will be ok, my Angel".

At the door frame there was little Sophie standing, watching the scene with curiosity, when Severus apparated back into the room with Poppy next to her.

The nurse began to give instructions to everybody, staying on her own with Minerva and just allowing Severus to be there too.

"Alright Mina, now I want you to push hard, it will be painful, but it will be just a while… Ready?"

Minerva nodded, Severus stayed next to her, holding her hand, letting Minerva squeeze his fingers hard while she pushed.

"I can't" Minerva cried feeling very tired.

"Just a little more" Poppy encouraged her, she could see the little head coming out "Come on"

Minerva looked at her friend, and behind her there was a shiny aura, she looked better at it and she could recognize a beautiful woman with long raven black hair staring at her. She was wearing a long white dress and was smiling at her. _Come on, my little kitten_, the woman said.

"Mom?" Minerva asked in a whisper while the woman flied towards her and kissed her forehead. After that, she disappeared and Minerva heard the cry of a baby.

"It's a little girl!" Poppy exclaimed wrapping the baby on a towel. "Look at your little princess, Mina"

"No, she's my little angel" Minerva said taking her on her arms "Like her grandmother…" she gazed at Severus and smiled "I want to call her Angelica"

"It's your decision" he said not able to stop smiling while he kissed Minerva and the little baby on her arms.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I didn't reread before posting so I hope there are not big mistakes or misunderstandings... I'll try to find a while when I come back to do it. Hope you like it^.^


	25. 25 Four months later

**A/N: My very dear Angelica readers, first I must apologize for not updating for such a long time. I'm very sorry, I got blocked and I left the story behind. Now I'm back, and I'm very glad to say that you'll be able to notice a big improvement in my grammar, what I must thank to my new beta-reader: Yue Sai. **

**So, you're going to find some parts in italic; those are lines that she came out with in order to hide my worst grammar mistakes. Again, thank you, Yue Sai.**

* * *

**WHERE ARE THE CHARACTERS I hate it when I have to re-read a fic just because I forgot what happened, so here's what you need to know:**

**Minerva got pregnant of Albus, who was killed by Severus. So, in order to protect her and the baby from Voldemort, she was convinced to force a marriage with the potions master.**

**During the pregnancy and their first months as a married couple, they felt in love and Severus discovered facts about Minerva's past that a very few people knew: she's related to the Lestrange family, her father joined Lord Voldemort during the first war and she has an older brother who loves her, and a twin brother who hates her. **

**After meet again with her older brother, Leonard, and his daughter Sophie, and make it up with their father, Minerva gives birth to Angelica.**

* * *

**Angelica – 25**

**.**

–** Four months later** –

Severus opened their private rooms' doors wildly and noisily, surprising his wife breastfeeding four-month-old Angelica, while correcting some tests that were floating in the air in front of her with a magic quill.

"Hurry up, you must leave!" he yelled going into the bedroom to take the little bag that they had already prepared with Angelica's baby stuff.

"Calm down, what's wrong?" Minerva asked, causing the exams to fly to the nearest table. She then stood up with the baby in her arms.

"Potter is coming to Hogwarts soon. It is only a matter of time before the Dark Lord finds out and comes too… I don't want you and Angelica here when the battle begins." He handed her the bag and walked her to the fireplace. "Go to Poppy's and stay there…"

"No, you can't ask me not to fight! This is my war too… I want to defend Hogwarts next to you!" she replied while taking some floo powder "I'll leave Angelica and come back… I won't stand by, wondering if I'll see you alive again… We'll either die or survive, but we'll do it together"

"Don't be silly…" he said before kissing her lips, and then the baby's forehead, "You must live for her, for the school…go and stay with Poppy!" he ordered for the last time before seeing them disappear in green emerald flames.

* * *

After Angelica's birth at Minerva's mother's old wooden house in the beach, Poppy offered her home for her brother Leonard and little niece to hide from the Death Eaters that were looking for them.

Every Friday, the nurse would go home after lunch. She was gardening with little Sophie, while her guest and Mr. Lestrange were playing a chess game at the sitting room, when all of a sudden the fireplace became green. Minerva appeared almost crying with her daughter in her arms.

"Minerva!" Leonard greeted standing up and helping his sister to sit down.

"What's wrong, my angel?" her father asked, sitting next to her, and taking the baby in his lap.

"Voldemort is going to Hogwarts… He'll meet Potter there and Severus thinks this is going to be it." At that moment Poppy came in with the child.

"And what are you doing here?" her friend asked.

"He asked me to stay here, but I… I feel that my place is there, defending the school…"

"Let's go, then… I'm tired of hiding too." Leonard stated standing up.

He walked to Sophie and kissed her cheek, "Daddy will be back soon. You stay with granddad, alright?" The girl just nodded but her eyes filled with tears as if she knew it would be the last time she saw her father.

"Wait for me!" the nurse said, "If there's going to be a battle, I'll be needed."

"Dad, you're alright staying with the girls?" Minerva asked drying her eyes.

"I'm too old for the war… just promise you all will be back alright." he caressed her hair. _They then left, leaving him to wonder if he would see them again. _

* * *

Their private rooms were empty, so was the Headmaster's office… but they could hear the noises and cries of the battle downstairs.

"I'll go to the hospital wing and try to help the injured ones." Poppy started her way down the corridors.

"I'll come with you" Leonard followed.

"Please, take good care of yourselves. I'll go check the Gryffindor tower and then I'll look for Severus." Minerva called out after them.

She wondered how her students were. The seventh years were old enough to fight but the younger ones…she hoped they were alright. She doubted Severus had had enough time to evacuate the school, but maybe he'd sent the students to their houses… maybe they would (Sounds better) be fine…

When she arrived there, she found the fat lady's picture tore up, and the common room destroyed. But there were no bodies, no children… she then heard some noises coming from her old private rooms, and noticed the door was unlocked. She hesitated before stepping in, but she finally went inside her bedroom in her animagus form.

_She peered inside to see that behind her desk stood a dark figure.__ She tried to leave but the door closed by its self. __Her mind starting racing, thinking for a way out but then a familiar voice had rooted her to the spot._

"Hello sis" Thomas said, and she jumped to the empty shelves still looking for a hole to escape.

"Don't be rude, kitten!" Bellatrix Lestrange yelled sending a curse in Minerva's direction, but she was able to dodge it.

"We know your little secret," taunted Bellatrix, "you dirty slut. You thought you could fool Severus, to hide Dumbledore's heir…"

Minerva opened her eyes wildly, frozen at the thought of those two knowing the truth… She then realized Bellatrix was holding Albus small picture in her hands. If Voldemort discovered the truth, he would kill Severus, and then her and Angelica… She put all her forces together, transforming to her human form to fight them back, but her own thoughts distracted her and one of Bella's curses caught her.

* * *

The headmaster's office was empty, silent… until one of the portraits woke up all of a sudden. "Fawkes, wake up!" Albus Dumbledore yelled from his painting "You must search for Severus! Minerva is in danger!" The crimson-feathered bird flew away by a broken window and disappeared into the foggy night.

After flying all around the castle with no luck, Fawkes sensed the current Headmaster's magic coming from Hogsmeade… So it went down town, and from one of the old windows of the Shrieking Shack, it saw his shadow, falling to the ground. The bird was noticed by Harry Potter, who had just arrived into the scene, and who opened the window for the animal. Fawkes paused near the potions master and cried on his injury before his life was totally gone. Once he recovered enough forces, the young Potter helped him up, and they used the Hog's Head secret passage to get inside the castle again without being seen by anyone. _They went up to the Headmaster's office, __and from there__, they were received by an old familiar voice._

"Severus, is that you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Headmaster!" Potter exclaimed shocked to hear Albus talking.

"Hello, Harry," he said as his eyes moved to the still weak professor, "You must go with Minerva."

"She's fine." Severus muttered sitting down, holding his healed but still painful injury, "She's hidden with Angelica by Poppy."

"No, she's in the school, fighting against her brother and Mrs. Lestrange on her own!" he yelled, "They're in the Gryffindor tower!"

Severus stood up to leave but Potter stopped him.

"I'll come with you, professor."

"No, you must look at the memories I gave you in order to save the world while I'll save my wife!" _With those final words__, he disappeared leaving Harry __bewildered__._

"Wife?" he asked confused to the void.

"A lot of things happened since you left, my boy" Albus spoke again before leaving his portrait as well.

.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	26. The end

**A/N: Hello to all of you who have followed this story since the very first chapter ignoring my bad grammar and my many many spelling mistakes. I can't believe this has taken so long... two years, 26 chapters, more than 40 thousands of words and almost a hundred reviews... Wow! Thank you, thank you to every single of you: ****CYMKK09, **** LemonDropsWoolSocks, ****Bergere, ****roni2010, ****Minerva's Daughter232 and also to ****katrin lily, BlueMarkingPen, eternal vampire, mrssesnape, Kathinka, Puppyluv09, 8thweasleykid, master-moehri86, Snape, Rosine, crazzie-bunnies24, IrisMn, corriente , VictoriaGr , McGonagallFan , Harpygirl24 , Leta McGotor , Lady McSnape ,Gabriella Janeway , MinervaAmaliaMcGranger , wigglesfunk , oceanclover15 and to those who were always following the story in silence also, thank you. **

**I hope the ending doesn't disappoint you, altought I know the story style has changed a lot from the first chapter. Here it is, the very last chapter of ANGELICA, THE END **

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When Severus was passing by the bathrooms of the fourth floor, he had to dodge a curse that appeared from nowhere by hiding behind a sculpture. He stayed there until he heard some steps approaching and then he came out with his wand ready to attack. For his surprise, his attacker was nobody else but Leonard, Minerva's older brother.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he said.

"No," Severus answered putting his wand down, wondering what his brother-in-law was doing there.

"I was following Goyle… I thought you were him, I'm..." He froze and regained his voice, "Why isn't my sister with you?"

"Thomas and Bellatrix ambushed her… I was on my way when you attacked me."

"Stop talking and go, then!" Leonard exclaimed.

"You're not going anywhere…" a grave voice said from there and both men turned around to face Mr. Goyle.

"Go, Severus… I'll cover your back," and trusting his words, the potions master crossed the corridor while Leonard Lestrange shouted spell after spell against his enemy.

* * *

Minerva was regaining consciousness slowly. She was dizzy, tired and her eyes wouldn't obey her command to open. In that darkness, Minerva heard a female voice begging: "Please, let me kill her…" and another, this time coming from a man, but also familiar, replying: "Not yet, we'll take them to the Dark Lord together…"

Making an effort, she remembered the latest events… She had come back to the school after making sure Angelica would be safe, the battle had started so she went to make sure her students were safe but… it was an ambush… her brother and Bella were waiting for her. If those voices were theirs, that meant they were waiting for Severus to come help her... She had to free herself; she had to fight back.

After her eyes would finally open, it took a while to them to get used to the light in the room; after that, the first thing she saw was the grey stone of her old bedroom's floor. She moved her arms very slowly, looking for her wand… she was surprised that they hadn't tied her up in any way, but not that she was wandless. Suddenly a black heel boot stepped right in front of her face and she closed her eyes again so they wouldn't notice she was awake; it would be silly trying to fight without a wand.

She felt a hand grabbing her hair and she opened her eyes. Bellatrix pulled her up and made her kneel down in front of Thomas.

"Did you have a nice rest, sis?" His voice felt like acid but Minerva didn't lost any time on replying his jokes, she murmured something and all of a sudden her twin brother and the woman behind her were thrown against the wall by an invisible force. Then, she held out her hand and an old Nimbus came from under the bed.

* * *

When Severus rushed into the Gryffindor common room through the tore up painting, an old broomstick mounted by Minerva passed above his head. She was dodging a curse coming from Bellatrix wand.

From where he was standing, Severus pointed at Bellatrix and without thinking it twice, he yelled: "_Avada Kedavra!_". A green light came out from his wand but Bellatrix moved away and it touched Thomas, who was right behind her. While Severus watched his wife's brother falling to the ground, Bellatrix sent some curse up to Minerva, who felt from her broomstick. In a quick reaction, though, she managed to transfigure herself to her animagic form and landed on its feet.

After that, Bellatrix pointed his wand at Severus and began to cast the same spell that had killed her partner, but Minerva jumped on her face still being a cat and seeing herself in danger, Bellatrix disapparated under her feet.

"I told you to stay at Poppy's," Severus said to his wife while she transformed herself back to her human form… but she said nothing in response… she just walked towards him and melted on his arms.

* * *

...

* * *

A COUPLE WEEKS LATER, in front of the castle's entrance…

"How are we going to fix this mess?" Minerva wondered loudly "The school is all in ruins, we won't be ready to open on September…"

"We will…" Severus said holding little Angelica on his arms "with a lot of help." And then, Poppy suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Hello, Min, sweetheart… your brother says hi, he's fine, recovering from his bounds."

"Poppy, what are you…?"

"I'm here too!" Rolanda exclaimed from behind, and after her other staff members, friends, students and their parents apparated all of a sudden at the lands of the school.

"What's this?" Minerva asked, confused.

"We all want to help," Sybill said.

"If we join our wands we'll be able to leave the school as if it was new before the summer ends." Augusta Longbottom said with her grandson next to her.

"Oh, my god… Thank you, thank you all of you for being here…" she breathed hard and then regained her usual still position and bossy tone "Let's make two groups, one will stay outside and the other will work inside… Come on."

"She's back," Rolanda joked and Poppy giggled while they followed her friend inside the castle.

"Tell us again how you managed to get free from Bellatrix and your brother," Poppy asked, since she was very happy that her best friends were fine after the battle that had taken so many beloved people from them.

"I used wandless magic to knock them out and then I grabbed my old broomstick…" she told, tired of telling the same story once and again "… and while I watched Severus coming in and killing Thomas by mistake, Bellatrix attacked me and I felt down from my broom…"

"That wouldn't have happened to me… I've always been a better flying than her…" Rolanda muttered.

"That's a lie and you know it," Minerva fought back.

"Oh, really… prove it, then…"

"Whenever you want…"

"Ladies, please…" Severus made peace as he appeared still holding their little girl on his arms "There's a lot of work to do…"

"Don't talk to us like that, you're not the headmaster anymore." Rolanda replied.

"You're right, but I'm the headmistress husband, so I have all the rights to talk to you as I please." He then looked at Minerva and handed her the baby, "I think she's hungry."

"Oh, are you my dear…" she took Angelica on her arms and left a kiss on Severus lips on the process "Do you think the office will be very damaged?"

"We could go and check together…" he said, and they climbed the steps to the old Albus Dumbledore's office, hand by hand.

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THE END.


End file.
